BELFODIL JOINS INTER

Algerian striker Ishak Belfodil has joined Italian club Inter Milan for around US$ 13 million. The striker was at Parma last season where he made a huge impression by scoring eight goals in 33 matches for the club.

He is expected to be at the forefront of the Inter Milan resurgence. The club, which won the Champions League in 2010, has suffered a number of problems in recent years. This coupled with an ageing squad has left new manager Walter Mazzarri with a lot of work to do ahead of the new season.

Even though striker Diego Milito is expected to come back to the squad in the next few months, it is expected that Inter will be starting the rebuilding work with Belfodil as the main striker. The 21-year-old has signed a five-year contract with the Milan club. He is at the right stage where he can develop into one of the best in the world according to manager Mazzarri. There have been several comparisons of Belfodil with French striker Karim Benzema, who is at Real Madrid. Belfodil has said that he is happy to be compared with the former Lyon star, who cost the Spanish club £ 35 million.

“Inter are a great team, I’m really delighted and I hope to do well here. It is a compliment for me and it’s not the first time I have heard that, but I don’t want to think about it. It is only normal that there will be comparisons, seeing as we share origins and football characteristics. I ran a risk when I first went to Bologna, but I wanted to believe in it. At Lyon everyone said they were counting on me, but ultimately there was very little faith in me,” said to the official Inter Milan website after moving from Parma.