Could Branimir Mlacic be the answer to Inter Milan’s centre-back issue for the foreseeable future?

Inter Milan are reportedly closing in on the next big thing in Croatian defensive football after beating several clubs to the signing of Branimir Mlacic.

Those clubs include the likes of European heavyweights Borussia Dortmund, Marseille, and Barcelona.

FootballBlog.com has decided to take a deep dive into what spectators at the San Siro side can potentially look forward to in the foreseeable future.

What is Inter Milan target Branimir Mlacic’s ceiling?

Despite still maturing on and off the pitch at only 18 years of age, Mlacic has regularly featured for current employers Hajduk Split’s first team this season.

Participating in 14 of their matches in the Croatian Football League, in addition to three of the club’s four Conference League qualification encounters across the 2025/26 campaign. Before being knocked out by fellow Croatian outfit Croatian Dinamo City in the third qualification round of matches.

A product of the Hajduk’s highly-sought-after youth programme, Mlacic has already represented the Croatian Under 21s in the 4-0 win over Lithuania in European Championship qualification.

One factor surely turning the heads of Inter is that Mlacic is currently a pivotal part of a team sitting in second position in the Croatian Football League.

Trailing leaders and former champions Dinamo Zagreb by only a point, the central defender’s current side has the second-best defensive record in the division. Their 17 goals conceded across 18 matches can only be bettered by the aforementioned side.

Having featured for the full 90 minutes across his last 10 matches, he has created a formidable partnership alongside Ron Raci. Weighing in at over 6ft 3’, Mlacic is certainly going to be a tough defender to come up against in Serie A when Inter think he is ready to make his debut.

Potential successor to Manuel Akanji

Possessing one of the most quintessential qualities that a central defender can possess, are we potentially looking at Manuel Akanji’s long-term replacement? Inter first have to decide if they want to sign the Manchester City man on a permanent deal after his current loan spell expires at the end of the season.

The 20-time Serie A winners have seemingly already found one of their respective centre-back pairing for the foreseeable future, with Alessandro Bastoni having already played in all but two of Inter’s league matches this season.

The fully-fledged Italian international is also only 26 years old and has an ongoing contractual deal at the San Siro that doesn’t expire for over two years.

Manager Cristian Chivu has another trusted member of his first-team squad who can operate within a three-man defence. However, defender Denzel Dumfries’ ankle surgery is reportedly going to keep the attack-minded defender out of action until at the very least the beginning of March.

Mlacic vs Akanji: The potential battle ahead

The Croatian has the advantage in the height department, coming in at just over 6ft 3’, while Akanji stands at just over 6ft 1’. 1-0 to Mlacic. However, Akanji is vastly more experienced with over 400 professional appearances compared to just 18 from his potential teammate.

A possibly unfair comparison would be viewing the pieces of silverware each player has won, considering their respective ages. However, let’s take a quick look. 

While Akanji has lifted the Champions League, two Premier League titles, and a FA Cup with Manchester City, to name a few, Mlačić hasn’t yet gotten his hands on any personal medals and/or trophies.

The last difference we will observe is injuries to tip the scale back into the middle. While the Croatian hasn’t yet suffered an injury in his short playing career, Akanji has suffered 19 different injuries since the 2015/16 campaign.

That has resulted in the defender missing 127 matches on both the domestic and international fronts. Could that be a potential factor in Inter’s pending announcement of Mlacic and potentially the decision not to make Akanji’s temporary move permanent?