Inter will continue to set the pace in 2007

Nothing would please soccer followers more during a season than to see a truly contested title race going right to the end of the campaign.

Failing that, a tight and exciting finish to determine who will be the ones to play European football and, at the wrong side of the table, the fight against the drop would be of some consolation.

Instinct tells me that in the Serie A we have to renounce to a proper contest for the scudetto as it looks like long-time leaders Inter are by far the best team in the Italian top flight.

So far, Roma have proved to be Inter's only pursuers. But the likelihood is that Luciano Spalletti's side could fade as the competition intensifies mainly due to a lack of suitable reserves on the bench.

A second successive league championship, this one on the field of play after a barren patch of several years, beckons for Roberto Mancini's Inter as the newly-crowned winter champions are set to continue dominating the Serie A.

Even when the side was somewhat wobbling in September, the punters still placed their money on Inter rather than any of the other pretenders to the throne, namely, Roma and Palermo.

Now that Inter, buoyed by 11 straight league wins which made them seem unstoppable, have recovered poise and stopped leaking goals so alarmingly they absolutely get my vote with even greater conviction.

Any team that can afford to keep the likes of Julio Ricardo Cruz and Alvaro Recoba, to cite just two, on the substitutes' bench are clearly going to have an extra pair of fresh legs when the going gets tough, particularly with the Champions League resuming next month.

Inter might still have some minor deficiencies. But one thing is for sure... the team is so strong that these flaws can pass unnoticed.

Take the Adriano saga for instance. The team did a great job without the former Fiorentina and Parma ace because Mancini possesses other quality strikers who can score any time even against stable defences.

In my opinion, a team with Dejan Stankovic carrying their threat goalwards and Zlatan Ibrahimovic around to turn that threat into goals has to be feared.

Whether Mancini will pursue his coaching career with Inter or elsewhere is still a mystery though.

But if he had to quit Inter this year, then he looks destined to end in glory.

Inter's only challengers for the title - Roma - are not adequately equipped to survive the challenge up to the end of the season.

Coach Spalletti is doing wonders at Roma. The club's financial restraints have not hindered him from transforming the Giallorossi into a strong outfit, composed of an enticing mix of up-and-coming youngsters and veteran ex-internationals. They all function like a unit.

A Champions League place is surely within Roma's reach, providing their attack can continue to offset their rare, though at times decisive, defensive shortcomings.

Seven points currently separate Roma from Inter. In recent years, there were impressive comebacks in the Serie A but if Roma were to prevail this year, that would be the most outstanding achievement for several decades.

Empoli's Almiron on the wanted list

Serie A trio Inter, Torino and Fiorentina will be fighting it out this month for the signature of Empoli's Sergio Almiron.

"We have offers from all three teams," confirmed agent Claudio Vagheggi yesterday. "Juventus? No, they haven't been in contact."

The Argentine midfielder is a highly-rated player who has been strongly associated with Inter and a switch to San Siro is seemingly a possibility.

"Empoli's asking price wouldn't be a problem for them," continued the representative. "If they think that Almiron is worthy of Inter then a slight difference in valuation won't see the transfer collapse."

However, any interested party will have to make a substantial offer before the window closes at the end of this month.

"Almiron would cost around £6.5m and the club would prefer to sell him in June," added Vagheggi. "As a result, we are not putting pressure on Empoli. However, if the opportunity to join a great club immediately did arrive then the player would be delighted to move on."