The futures of Benjamin Pavard and Joao Cancelo are tied at the hip with Bayern Munich

According to a report from Corriere dello Sport (as captured by @iMiaSanMia), Inter Milan is still a little bitter that it could not secure Bayern Munich defender Benjamin Pavard in the final hours of the winter transfer window.

In fact, Inter Milan plans to pick up its pursuit of the Frenchman this summer:

Inter will return for Benjamin Pavard in the summer as they look to replace Milan Skriniar, who will join PSG on a free transfer. Inter appreciate Pavard’s flexibility and his ability to play as right center-back in their back three system.

One of the potential hang-ups in a deal getting done between Bayern Munich and Inter Milan was that the Bavarians would be left with a thin depth chart on backline. The other roadblock was the fact that Pavard’s arrival in Italy would have allowed Skriniar to leave for PSG on Tuesday — ensuring he would be ready to face Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

Interestingly, Pavard’s future appears to be tied at the hip with that of Manchester City loanee Joao Cancelo. According to Sport1’s Kerry Hau (as captured by @iMiaSanMia), Bayern Munich would need to sell Pavard to help fund a permanent move for Cancelo:

If João Cancelo proves to be a reinforcement and wants to stay at Bayern beyond the summer, the club would do everything to keep him. A significant part of the fee could be raised from selling Pavard - Bayern are hoping to get around €30m for the Frenchman.

The scenes on the backline should be a bit wild once Noussair Mazraoui comes back from his ailment. It can be assumed that Pavard will now be a permanent member of the center-back rotation with Matthijs de Ligt (assuming he avoids a suspension from his time at Juventus) and Dayot Upamecano for the rest of the season. Lucas Hernandez, of course, is recovering from an ACL tear that he suffered at the World Cup.

Cancelo and Mazraoui will fight it out at right-back with Josip Stanišić probably shifting over to backup Alphonso Davies at left-back. Daley Blind will like be used as the jack-of-all trades depth piece across every spot (meaning he likely won’t play much at all).