Inter midfielder Andy Diouf took his place in the starting eleven for the Nerazzurri's final pre-season fixture, a 1-0 victory against Real Betis played in Bari, as Inter coach Cristian Chivu used the occasion to run the rule over his first-choice midfield combinations ahead of the Serie A opener.
The significance of Diouf's inclusion is not ceremonial. Chivu paired him with Hakan Calhanoglu in the engine room, a pairing that signals the 23-year-old is being considered as a genuine piece of the competitive structure rather than a rotational option. With Thomas Berenbruch confirmed to be joining Avellino on loan and Marcus Thuram absent from even the bench due to a difficult physical summer, the squad around Diouf is still finding its final shape — and the midfield picture in particular remains in flux.
John Stones, the England international who joined Inter this summer, scored the only goal of the match to settle the contest. His debut winner gave Chivu's side a clean close to pre-season, but the more instructive detail was the midfield architecture Chivu chose to test: Diouf and Calhanoglu operating together, with Francesco Pio Esposito ahead of them.
Diouf's profile from last season — one goal in 19 Serie A appearances, an average rating of 6.70 — describes a player who contributed reliably without yet imposing himself on matches. Inter finished the 2025-26 campaign as champions with 87 points from 38 matches, a title-winning environment that demands consistent output from every position. Diouf's AI overall score of 60 out of 100 suggests the ceiling is meaningfully above where he currently operates, and a pre-season start in a senior friendly is the kind of low-stakes, high-visibility moment that can either confirm a player's standing or quietly expose its limits.
Nothing in the Bari result suggests the latter. Chivu selected him, kept him in the lineup, and got the win. The new season asks for more than that — but it is the right place to start.