Serie A Player of the Week | Round 1

The 2021/22 Serie A season began with a new-look Inter defending their title and it was new arrival Hakan Calhanoglu who impressed a reduced capacity Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on Saturday evening to be named Player of the Week in Round 1.

After the departure of influential coach Antonio Conte and star players Romelu Lukaku and Achraf Hakimi, many questioned how the Nerazzurri may cope, but a 4-0 victory over Genoa looks to have dispelled any thoughts that they will not compete for the Scudetto.

Arriving from crosstown rivals AC Milan this summer for free, the 27-year-old midfielder was clearly already comfortable at San Siro and already looked like a vital cog in the Inter machine, delivering the opening goal for Milan Skrniar from a corner kick on six minutes.

From that moment, the Turkish international went from strength-to-strength and scored with a well-placed shot from outside the box on 14 minutes and gave a wonderful all round performance, that had the 27,402 in attendance delivering a standing ovation when substituted.