Zürcher Nachrichten - Key players from Inter Milan's Serie A title triumph

Here AFP looks at the key figures from what turned into a procession after a tricky opening to the first campaign under coach Cristian Chivu.

Lautaro Martinez

With a league-leading 16 goals in Serie A despite a series of niggling injuries, Martinez has averaged around a goal every two games for Inter this season, even during his team's Champions League campaign which ended with a disastrous play-off exit at the hands of Bodo/Glimt.

The Argentina striker has had to deal with calf problems this term after a gruelling last two years during which he has evolved from star goalscorer to captain and club legend.

This season he has overtaken San Siro icons like Sandro Mazzola and Roberto Boninsegna to become Inter's third-highest goalscorer in history with 173 strikes, and while the 28-year-old is a long way from Giuseppe Meazza's all-time record of 284, he has joined him on three Serie A titles with Inter.

Federico Dimarco

While questions remain over his defensive abilities against Europe's best, Dimarco's attacking prowess has been on full display this season and he has been a key part of Inter's Scudetto success.

The 28-year-old has scored six times in the league, his highest single-season tally, but above all has provided 17 assists from wing-back -- a Serie A record.

No Serie A defender had ever before racked up a combined goal/assists tally of above 20 since that statistic began being recorded in the 2004/05 season.

Hakan Calhanoglu

Calhanoglu has once again been one of Inter's standout performers, the Turkey captain pulling the strings when he is available for selection, as he is another one who has suffered a series of niggling knocks throughout the campaign.

Nine goals and four assists in 22 appearances highlight just how important Calhanoglu is to Inter and why the club will be trying to extend his contract which expires at the end of next season.

The 32-year-old has been a stated target of Galatasaray since last summer but he will be one of the players Inter want to keep around during what is expected to be a significant summer squad reshuffle.

Pio Esposito

An Inter youth product, Esposito is probably best known outside Italy for smashing a penalty over the bar during his country's latest World Cup qualifying disaster last month.

But the 20-year-old was only in the Azzurri set-up because of the promise he has shown in his debut season in the Inter first team, as a stand-in up front for Martinez and Marcus Thuram.

Six goals in 31 appearances doesn't sound like a huge amount but when you break it down to played minutes it actually works out to just 15 full matches.

And more importantly Esposito, alongside French centre-forward Ange-Yoan Bonny, has been the capable, and youthful, back-up that Inter sorely missed last season when an ageing team ran out of gas and ideas in the final weeks of the campaign.

M.Hug--NZN