THIS SUMMER WAS NEVER going to be a relaxing one for Inter. Losing the Champions League final by an historic margin brought up a lot of questions about the makeup of the squad. Simone Inzaghi's departure only a few days later made progressive change even harder to achieve. Suddenly, a team that had targeted a treble a few short months ago was staring at a rebuild.

With a rookie coach at the helm and rumors of yet more summer exits, the Nerazzurri had no choice but to confront their uncomfortable new reality and ask themselves how competitive they could possibly be. The level of uncertainty, and lack of commitment, bothered captain Lautaro Martinez. Here's a player who has given all of himself to the club, suddenly surrounded by people whose heads he believed were turning elsewhere.

Burned by a 2-0 loss to Fluminense that eliminated Inter from the FIFA Club World Cup, Martinez took his one and only chance to articulate his frustrations in public, telling anyone who wants to leave to go and do just that. Inter president Giuseppe Marotta later identified midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu as the target of Martinez's comments.

You could understand why the Argentine felt the need to take an open stance against his Turkish teammate. People around Calhanoglu, including his barber and father, encouraged him to join Galatasaray, supplementing reports that the player would like to retire with the Istanbul giants. Because Calhanoglu's apparent confidantes went public, Martinez decided he could as well.