Inter Milan to be transformed by three England internationals as new-look starting XI revealed

Inter Milan head into 2026/27 with a raft of new signings as they look to defend their Serie A title.

Former Inter defender Cristian Chivu guided the Nerazzurri to their 21st Scudetto in his first full season as head coach, as well as lifting the Coppa Italia for a domestic double.

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Having gone through pre-season unbeaten, wrapping things up with a 1-0 win over Real Betis, Inter begin the new Serie A campaign at home to Monza on Saturday.

Also in the Champions League for the ninth straight campaign, Inter will find out their European opponents when the draw for the league phase of the competition takes place next Thursday (August 27).

And with plenty of new faces through the door at the San Siro this summer – as well as a number of big names leaving at the end of their contracts – Chivu’s starting XI could have quite a different look to it.

Inter’s English influx

With the exception of veteran midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who will miss the season opener through suspension, Inter have a full squad at their disposal.

That includes three new English signings: John Stones, Djed Spence – both of whom starred at the 2026 World Cup – and fellow international Curtis Jones.

Stones has joined on a free transfer after leaving Manchester City, with Spence arriving from Tottenham and Jones set to complete a switch from Liverpool.

And European football expert Andy Brassell thinks the trio could thrive at Inter.

Stones, Spence and Jones’ new adventure

Speaking exclusively to talkSPORT, he explained: “Stones is a great opportunity and feels like someone in the kind of Ashley Young mould, really.”

Former Manchester United and England full-back Young spent 18 months at Inter, helping them to the 2020/21 Serie A title.

“Of course, a very different type of player, but Young got a great couple of extra years at elite level there and did great really at Inter,” Brassell continued.

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“I think with Stones, a little bit like Rodri, if you take a lot of the extra physical pressure off him, he becomes the footballer he should have been all along again.

“Because he’s struggled in recent times, even though he’s got all the ability in the world and we know that on his days he’s as good as he gets. So if that works for Inter, then great. They’ll have had a great pick-up there.

“Spence is super important because they need that energy and that nous that he really has in the wing-back position.

“He’s younger than [Denzel] Dumfries [who has left for Real Madrid]. I think he could be a really great signing for them.

“As well, he can cover [Federico] Dimarco on the other side. Dimarco doesn’t need to get overplayed as well. He needs to have a little bit of a look at his minutes. So Spence is going to be super important.”

Alluding to Jones, he added: “And I do think they’ve needed to make the midfield younger over the last couple of years, and they’ve made moves towards doing that. That was something that they spoke about at length last summer, about making themselves younger.

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“I think Spence and Jones put together, you look at their age and their athleticism, it’s clear what direction Inter are trying to move into.

“It’s a great opportunity for them both of course because they’ve got the opportunity to compete for Serie A and to go far in the Champions League.”

How will Inter line up this season?

One would expect Inter to continue in Chivu’s favoured 3-5-2 formation which he deployed to great effect last term and during pre-season.

Between the sticks, ex-Lazio goalkeeper Ivan Provedel has come in as the successor to the departing Yann Sommer.

Manuel Akanji is likely to sit at the heart of the back three, having made his loan move from Man City permanent, with his old teammate Stones to the right and Alessandro Bastoni to the left.

The right and left wing-back positions look set to be occupied by Spence and Dimarco respectively, either side of a midfield three comprising Hakan Calhanoglu, Jones and Nicolo Barella.

And in attack, it’s likely to be a front two of Marcus Thuram and Lautaro Martinez, who scored 40 goals between them in all competitions last season.