Where did it all go wrong for Inter?

Inter have been in decline for the better part of almost 3 seasons now, and after winning every competition in the 2009/10 season, one would not foresee a future like this for the Nerazurri.

Club president Massimo Moratti is well known as one of the stingier presidents, when it comes to splashing money on high-profile names, but Mourinho, unlike any of his predecessors or successors, has managed to convince the oil tycoon to open the wallet, after the sale of Ibrahimovic to Barcleona for €69.5M. The club acquired the services of Samuel Eto'o as a part of Ibrahimovic deal, Diego Milito and Thiago Motta from Genoa for €35M, Sneijder from Real Madrid, paid for with €15M and Lucio, who was dubbed an outcast at Bayern Munich, but, like everyone else from the list, came to have an unbelievable season with Inter, winning the treble and World Cup Championship afterwards.

Inter were flying as high as a club can, but when Mourinho left to coach Real Madrid, the end of an era began. Current Chelsea interim manager, Rafa Benitez was brought in as a replacement for Mourinho and was not able to replicate the high standards of Portuguese coach. He was sacked at the end of the season, and his successors, Leonardo, Gian Piero Pellegrini and Claudio Ranieri had the similar fate.

Inter's transfer market policy has changed and it's starting to resemble Liverpool's strategy with no particular goal, just buying out of impulse, though spending less money.

They've started 2012/13 promisingly with their young coach, Andrea Stramaccioni, who made them look like genuine Serie A title contestants when they were just one point behind Juventus, but since, Inter's form has dipped and Champions League qualification looks highly unlikely now for Internazionale.

Moratti's lack of spending may be attributed to the stadium plans club has, following the footsteps of Juventus, who have enjoyed financial boost from the ticket revenue ever since they revealed their new stadium, though stadium isn't expected to be functional till 2018, and one must wonder, what will happen to Inter, if the club policy remains unaltered.

What can Sneijder offer to Tottenham?

Sneijder has been linked with a move out of San Siro in just about every transfer window in the previous 3 years, but it looks as though he could finally make an exit from Italy after serving the Nerazzurri for 3 and a half seasons, though he only featured 6 times this term.

Dutchman has gotten into a dispute with club directors over his wages, as they tried to reduce his annual salary from €6M to €4M, though Sneijder didn't share the same vision and has since been frozen out and told he would not feature for the club until he accepts the wage reduction.

With just a week away from the beginning of January transfer window, various reports from Italy have emerged linking Sneijder to Premiership, but this time, his suitor is not Sir Alex, who followed Sneijder for quite some time now and has agreed a deal with Inter at one point, but the deal never materialized due to wage demands. Now appears that London-based club, Tottenham Hotspur, is close to signing the ex-Ballon d'Or candidate and have, apparently, managed to agree terms with Sneijder, and just need to agree a transfer fee for him.

Spurs are not known for their high wage bills, with their top earner, Gareth Bale earning £100k-per-week, it becomes fairly obvious that Sneijder will take a wage cut, should the deal go through.

But the question remains: Can Sneijder replicate his form yet again and beat the odds, as he did when he made a move from Madrid to Inter, when he was also dubbed a surplus at the club that didn't want him. His talent remains indisputable, but his injury problems have kept him out through several periods, as he never managed to make more than 26 league appearances for Inter.

Spurs are in need of some creativity in their midfield, considering the poor run of form during Dembele's injury problems. Summer signing from Hoffenheim, Gylfi Sigurðsson wasn't able to reproduce his last season form and has seen his chances limited, though at 22, he's seen as a future of the club and Sneijder's arrival could mean an instant boost for the Champions League hopefuls.

Inter have valued their star playmaker at €40M at one point, but will have to accept a significantly smaller sum and Daniel Levy, chairman of Tottenam, is well known for his bargaining skills, so you can expect Spurs to pull of quite a coup with Sneijder deal.

Inter finally pulling off smart moves?

Highly rated Uruguay wing back Alvaro Pereira has officially been signed by Inter for a sum of just €10M, potentially rising to €15M, depending on his performances. Pereira has been in demand for quite some time, most notably chased by Chelsea last season, but were put off by Porto's valuation of €30M for the left sided defender, while London-based team offered around €25M.

He's the 2nd signing coming from Porto to Inter in this transfer window, after Fredy Guarin made a €11M switch to the San Siro, after spending half a season at Inter, where he managed to impress during his 6 months and earn his move to the Italian giants.

Other than that, Inter have made a few other high profile signings, most notably signing Cassano from their arch-rivals Milan in the exchange for the services of out-of-favor striker, Giampaolo Pazzini, and receiving additional €7M from Milan. Now some may argue that Cassano may not be signing Moratti has promised to deliver to the club, with his new policy of buying young players, but Cassano does bring a lot of quality in attack, being known for his technique and creativity, something Inter desperately need.

Another, not so young signing was a long-term target, Rodrigo Palacio, whose record at Genoa was impressive to say the least, and paying €10.5M for a 30 year old striker does seem a bit of an overkill, but Palacio is sure to bring in a lot of quality and experience. Just remember that 3 seasons ago, Milito was also signed from Genoa when he was also 30 years of age, yet his price was more than double of Palacio's.

Other than that, Inter have made a few loan acquisitions, Matias Silvestre of Palermo, highly rated defender made the switch earlier in the summer for €2M with an option to make the move permanent at the end of the season. Same deals were made for Mudingayi and Gargano, both adding plenty of depth in the midfield.

Decision to get rid of Julio Cesar is not something I favored, but they sure managed to get the perfect replacement, Samir Handanovic, last season's best keeper in the Serie A, quite a coup for a sum of €11M.

No doubt Inter looks a lot stronger this season and with exodus of their rivals AC Milan, it would appear that Inter is now again a team to beat in the city of Milano.