THE VITALS:

Team: Internazionale

Brand: Nike

Era: 2015-16 (Used for the final game of the 2014-15 Serie A season and the 2015-16 Serie A season)

Name/Number: Icardi #9

CONDITION: EXCELLENT

This particular article is in excellent condition, in fact I would go on to suggest this looks as good as new.

DIMENSIONS:

Size: Large

Pit to Pit Measurement: 20.5 inches

Shirt Length: 30 inches 

Made by Nike in their ‘Dri-Fit’ template which they introduced ahead of the 2015-16 season; this shirt provides dimensions for a fine size large fitting shirt.

DESCRIPTION:

After Nike’s daring use of the blue pinstripes against the black backdrop for the 2014/15 season; the American kit supplier reverted to a more traditional kit ahead of the 2015/16 season, as thick black stipes accommodated a blue background. The collar from the previous season was retained, however the neckline went to a V-shape in place of the buttons that had been in use for the previous 2 seasons, as well a new font for the players’ names and numbers being introduced. This shirt would be remembered as Inter enjoyed a return to the Serie A top-4 where they would also spend 8 rounds at the summit of the division; enjoying an especially fruitful 2015 portion of the campaign!

THE SEASON:

A disappointing 2014-15 campaign that began with Walter Mazzarri in charge, before being replaced by the returning Roberto Mancini. The man responsible for kick-starting Inter’s spell of dominance in the mid-2000’s would engineer a fine end of season run from April that saw the club win 5 of their last 10 games, losing just twice. They would eventually finish in 8^th place, however, in Mauro Icardi, they had the league’s joint top goalscorer.

With the benefit of having three quarters of a season to assess his squad; there would be a very busy summer transfer window as: Geoffrey Kondogbia, Miranda, Jeison Murillo, Martin Montoya, Stevan Jovetic, Adem Ljajic, Felipe Melo, Alex Telles and Ivan Perisic all coming in! Naturally, there would be some departures, most notably the prized Matteo Kovacic, who was sold to Real Madrid, while Xherdan Shaqiri left for Stoke City after only joining the club in January and Hernanes would join Juventus.

Inter got the season underway at home against Atalanta, and Jovetic would score on his return to Serie A as his 93^rd minute goal earnt Inter a 1-0 win. Jovetic would bag a brace in the 2-1 win over newly promoted Carpi, and then with the Milan Derby up next, Fredy Guarin would score the winner in a 1-0 triumph as Inter moved to 1^st place! Mauro Icardi would score his first goal of the season as Inter saw off Chievo 1-0, before a win over Hellas Verona by the same score-line got ‘I Nerazurri’ to 5 wins in a row for the first time since 2012 in what was also a repeat of their 5 opening wins that they last achieved in the 2002-03 season!

Inevitably, the bubble would burst as Fiorentina beat Inter Milan 4-1 at San Siro on September 27^th, before stumbling to 3 draws in a row. They would very quickly rediscover their mojo as 4 wins on the bounce, including a 1-0 win over Roma on October 31^st saw them go back to the top of the table ahead of a pivotal showdown against 2^nd place Napoli at the San Paolo.

Inter would fall 2-1 in Naples on November 30^th , but wins over Genoa and Udinese saw Inter return to 1^st place and establish a 4 point lead over Fiorentina, meaning that irrespective of the result against Lazio, they’d go into 2016 as league leaders. Antonio Candreva’s late goal at San Siro earnt Lazio a 2-1 win. With just 23 goals scored in 17 games, Inter dipped into the transfer market in January and secured the services of the red-hot Eder from Sampdoria who had 12 league goals to his name in just 17 games.

2016 began with a 1-0 win away against Empoli, however the rest of January would be a disaster as 2 draws and 2 losses, including a 3-0 beating in the Milan Derby sent Inter to 4^th and 9 points behind Napoli who had seized control of 1^st. Moreover, on January 27^th, Inter would be beaten 3-0 by Juventus in the 1^st Leg of the Coppa Italia semi-final, further compounding their misery.

A 1-0 win over Chievo proved a false dawn, as they had to come from 3-1 down to salvage a 3-3 draw with their neighbours Hellas, before a game that featured 3 red cards ended in a 2-1 defeat to Fiorentina; allowing ‘La Viola’ to go 4 points clear of Inter.

An upturn in fortune would start on March 2^nd as Inter incredibly overturned their 3-0 deficit against Juventus in the 2^nd Leg of their Coppa Italia clash, this coming just 2 days after losing 2-0 to Juve’ in the league. Sadly, Inter would bow out of the competition as they fell 5-3 in the ensuing penalty shoot-out. Buoyed by their performance against the champions, they’d secure back to back league wins for the first time in 2016, forming the basis of 6 wins in their final 11 outings of the campaign and winning the race for 4^th place ahead of Fiorentina.

The notable players that season were:

Mauro Icardi, Rodrigo Palacio, Eder, Stevan Jovetic, Rodrigo Palacio, Adem Ljajic, Ivan Perisic, Jonathan Biabiany, Felipe Melo, Marcelo Brozovic, Gary Medel, Freddy Guarin, Geoffrey Kondogbia, Yuto Nagatomo, Juan Jesus, Alex Telles, Miranda, Davide Santon, Danilo D’Ambrosio, Samir Handanovic