Yahoo Sports Antonio Cassano Argues Ex West Ham Star ‘Deserves More Minutes’ At Inter Milan: ‘He’s A Real Footballer’
Former Nerazzurri forward Antonio Cassano feels that striker Marko Arnautovic deserves more playing time at Inter Milan.
The ex-Italian international called Arnautovic a “real footballer” speaking on the Viva el Futbol podcast, via FCInterNews. He also suggested that Mehdi Taremi is only playing ahead of the Austrian to keep his value up.
Arnautovic is far from a regular starter at Inter.
That is not to say that the former West Ham United and Stoke City striker has never gotten his opportunities.
Marko Arnautovic re-joined the Nerazzurri in the summer of 2023. And he has played both from the start and from the bench in Serie A and the Champions League.
However, the pecking order has always been abundantly clear.
Arnautovic is a backup option. He is in the team in order to give starting strikers Lautaro Martinez and Marcus Thuram a chance to rest from time to time, or step up when they’re injured.
Cassano: “Marko Arnautovic Deserves More Playing Time At Inter”
Last summer, Inter signed striker Mehdi Taremi on a free transfer from Porto.
The 32-year-old Iranian international has only further bolstered the attacking depth – and increased the competition for a starting place.
Therefore, Arnautovic’s playing time has dwindled even more.
For much of his career, Arnautovic has tended to be a regular starter in attack at whichever club he’s been playing for. As well as for the Austrian national team.
However, that is not the case at Inter now.
But former striker Cassano doesn’t agree with this. “I’m not a big fan of Taremi,” he hit out.
As for the question of whether Marko Arnautovic deserves more playing time, he said “Absolutely, yes.”
“The thing I hate is when people criticize him,” Cassano said of Arnautovic. “He’s a real player, he knows how to play.”
“He deserves more minutes.”
Cassano noted that “If Marcus Thuram and Lautaro Martinez are fit they have to play, because one is putting up monster numbers and the other is a world-class player.”
“But when they’re rested, I think Arnautovic should play more. But instead, they’re giving more playing time to Taremi.”
Then, Cassano has his own theory as to why Taremi has received the chances he has.
“I think it’s because they want to put him in the shop window,” he said. “They want to make a profit on him next year.”
“Taremi is nothing more than that,” he hit out.
