Inter Push Pavard Towards Exit Amid Diaby Tug-of-War

Inter’s new era under Cristian Chivu is starting with a ruthless decision. Benjamin Pavard, a World Cup winner and once a marquee arrival, is being pushed firmly towards the exit door.

He is no longer in Chivu’s technical plans at the Giuseppe Meazza. That much is clear. Inter have moved from internal doubt to concrete action, and the French defender is now being actively shopped around Europe and beyond.

Romero in, Pavard out

The turning point came with Inter’s move for Cristian Romero. Fabrizio Romano reports that the Nerazzurri have reached an initial agreement to sign the Argentine defender from Tottenham Hotspur, a deal that reshapes both the wage bill and the depth chart.

With Romero on his way, Pavard’s position becomes both an economic and tactical problem. One of them has to go, and Inter have made their choice.

Romano revealed on his YouTube channel that Inter have offered Pavard to Al-Ittihad and other clubs, looking to accelerate a sale and unlock fresh funds. The message from Milan is blunt: they want space in the squad and relief on salaries, and they want it quickly.

Pavard holds his ground

The market, though, is not bending to Inter’s urgency. Pavard still carries weight in Europe. Several prestigious clubs have shown interest, yet his next move remains unresolved because he has already turned down official offers.

According to Tuttosport, the Frenchman has rejected proposals from Benfica and Galatasaray. He knows he has no real future under Chivu, but he is refusing to jump at the first exit that appears.

Inter, for their part, are desperate to “close this file,” banking on Saudi money to break the deadlock. Al-Ittihad are one of the most serious options on the table. The attraction is not purely financial. The Saudi Pro League now offers a dressing room full of global names and a level of visibility that would have been unthinkable there a few years ago.

A move to Jeddah would also hand Inter a secondary benefit: the freedom to attack other transfer targets.

Diaby at the heart of a tug-of-war

One of those targets sits in the very same club they are trying to send Pavard to. Nico Gonzalez at Atletico Madrid has been highlighted as a name Inter admire, but in Saudi Arabia the spotlight is fixed firmly on Moussa Diaby.

Al-Ittihad are under pressure over Diaby’s future. The French winger is central to their plans, yet reports say his agent is working hard behind the scenes to engineer a way out of “Al-Ameed.”

The club’s response has been firm. They do not want to lose one of their most important attacking pieces, especially not for offers that fail to reflect the sporting and commercial outlay they made to bring him in.

Saudi media figure Hattan Al-Najjar captured the club’s stance in a post on X (formerly Twitter). He wrote that Al-Ittihad have “no intention” of selling Diaby, calling the bids received “weak” in light of the player’s value and stressing that such offers would not even cover the cost of a proper replacement. He added that €40 million represents a fair valuation “if” Al-Ittihad were even to consider a sale.

Inter test Al-Ittihad’s resolve

Inter are testing that resolve. Saudi journalist Mohammed Al-Bakiri reports that the Italian club have already adjusted their approach to try and land Diaby this summer.

According to Al-Bakiri, Al-Ittihad hesitated over an Inter bid worth €40 million for a permanent transfer. In response, Inter proposed a season-long loan worth €28 million. The structure changes, the money remains serious. Yet Diaby himself would prefer a permanent exit rather than another temporary stop.

The story takes another twist in the pages of Al-Riyadiah. The newspaper claims Al-Ittihad have received a different Inter proposal: €18 million plus Albanian midfielder Kristjan Asllani in exchange for Diaby.

Different figures, different formulas, same conclusion: Inter are not going away.

A market triangle with no easy answers

Pavard’s future, Diaby’s agitation, Inter’s push and Al-Ittihad’s resistance have created a tense triangle that stretches from Milan to Jeddah and back across Europe.

Pavard waits and weighs his options, rejecting moves that do not convince him, even as Inter try to hurry him out. Al-Ittihad fight to keep Diaby, publicly insisting on his importance while his camp pushes for the door. Inter sit in the middle, needing sales to fund signings, trying to turn one Frenchman’s exit into another Frenchman’s arrival.

This is not the first time Diaby has been linked with a departure from Al-Ittihad. Every previous saga ended the same way: he stayed.

This time, with Inter circling, Pavard in limbo and Saudi money shaping another summer, the question is whether that pattern finally breaks.