Nobody could accuse Erick Thohir of failing to back his new manager. Less than a week has passed since the opening of the January transfer window, and already the Inter owner has added two international forwards to Roberto Mancini’s squad.

Lukas Podolski arrived from Arsenal on Monday, making his debut against Juventus a day later. Xherdan Shaqiri is set to complete his move from Bayern Munich on Friday, as announced by the Bundesliga club on Twitter.

Both players are initially joining on loan, although Inter have committed to making Shaqiri’s deal permanent, at a cost of €15 million plus bonuses, in the summer, per La Repubblica (in Italian). That could prove an absolute steal. At 23 years old, Shaqiri has already played 41 games for Switzerland, but he still has his whole career ahead of him.

It is easy to see why Mancini would be keen on his signing. A versatile talent, Shaqiri has experience of playing on either flank, as well as behind the attack in a deeper-lying role. An exceptional dribbler with rare close control, he is also an effective crosser and delivers a vicious free-kick—unleashing the power of his preposterously muscular frame.

Nicknamed the “Alpine Messi,” his physique more closely resembles that of Roberto Carlos, both players standing roughly 5’7” tall but offsetting their lack of height with broad shoulders and chunky legs. Shaqiri’s bulging quads achieved international exposure during the recent World Cup, but they are old news back home, where the Swiss tabloid Blick reported (in German) in 2009 that the 60-cm circumference of his thighs compared favourably with Carlos’s 58.5 cm. 

Shaqiri even played a few games at wing-back for his first professional club, Basel, and it is conceivable that Mancini could try him in a similar role at some stage. In the immediate term, the player is expected to line up on the right of attack in either a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1, with Podolski on the other side and Mauro Icardi playing through the middle.

The prospect is enticing. Shaqiri has endured two-and-a-half difficult seasons at Bayern, stuck behind the likes of Arjen Robben, Franck Ribery and Mario Gotze in the pecking order, but he still managed nine goals and 11 assists in 52 Bundesliga appearances—only half of which were starts, per Whoscored.

A hat-trick for Switzerland against Honduras at the World Cup reminded fans what he is capable of at his best. This is still the same player who carved apart Manchester United in December 2011, providing both assists as Basel eliminated the English side from that season’s Champions League. 

Podolski, too, has plenty to offer, as he demonstrated after coming off the bench against Juventus. The German’s powerful and direct running style is a rare commodity in Italy, and more than once he exposed the champions’ defence. His assist for Icardi in the 81st minute ought to have led to a goal, but the Argentinian misread his intentions and arrived a fraction too late, sliding the ball wide at the far post.

Both new signings have been well received by the Inter’s fans, with hundreds gathering to greet Shaqiri at Milan’s Malpensa airport on Thursday evening, just as they had to welcome Podolski at Linate a few days earlier. But the question on everybody’s lips is: Will those two players be enough to carry Inter back into the Champions League?

For now, it looks like a distant goal. With 17 games played, the Nerazzurri are joint-11th in Serie A, eight points behind Lazio and Napoli—who sit level in third. Although that is not an insurmountable gap, the quality shown by both clubs lately suggests neither will easily be caught. 

Inter do have an alternative path back into the Champions League, via the Europa League. On that front, Mancini has a tough decision to make. Uefa rules stipulate that only one player who has participated in another European tournament this season can be added to a squad before the knockout stage. Both Shaqiri and Podolski have played Champions League games this season, meaning one will have to be left out.

Mancini is not necessarily expected to return to Europe’s top table at the first time of asking. Inter’s owner, Erick Thohir, said last month that the minimum objective was simply to get back into the Europa League (quotes in Italian, via Gazzetta dello Sport). But even this cannot be taken for granted in a year when the competition looks fierce. 

For all the quality that Shaqiri and Podolski bring to the side, they should not be expected to provide an instant fix. Both may experience some challenges in adapting to a new league in the middle of a season, especially when their team-mates are themselves still adjusting to the new tactical systems introduced by Mancini since his appointment in November.

And it must also be noted that Inter’s greatest weaknesses this season have been in defence, not attack. Full-backs Dodo and Yuto Nagatomo are both prone to getting caught high up the pitch, leaving open spaces for opponents to counter-attack into. Given that both Podolski and Shaqiri have reputations for not tracking back as often as they should, that situation could even be exacerbated. 

The situation at centre-back is little better, with Nemanja Vidic dropped from the side after a disastrous start to life in Italy and Andrea Ranocchia yet to fulfill his potential at 26 years old. Only five other Serie A teams have conceded more goals than Inter this season. It is a situation that needs to be addressed.

None of which is to diminish the new signings. Podolski and Shaqiri are fine players who will make Inter better. The speed and decisiveness with which they have been acquired also feels like a statement of intent. But this is a starting point, not a conclusion. There is still much work to be done.

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