Lina Magull has just moved permanently to Inter, coming from Bayern Munich in what can be considered a notable acquisition for the Italian side, who have got the services of one of the best midfielders in Europe at the moment under contract until June 2026. Even more critical for Inter Milan is that they signed the German international during her peak years, knowing that Magull is 29 years old.

Another essential aspect to consider is the player’s interest in an experience at Inter Milan and her motivation to succeed in her first-ever experience outside of Germany, as she was the one who requested Bayern Munich to accept Inter Milan’s transfer offer. Therefore, all aspects serve in Magull and Inter’s favour regarding this deal’ it is very expected that this transfer will be a win-win.

Magull started her footballing journey at FSV Gütersloh 2009 (in 2009) before joining Wolfsburg in 2012 and spending three years at Freiburg. Then, she had the opportunity to join Bayern Munich in 2018 and showcase her talent in a more obvious manner, whether in Frauen-Bundesliga or the UEFA Women’s Champions League, knowing that she was also able to win this UWCL trophy with Wolfsburg twice back in 2012–13 and 2013–14.

Moreover, Magull has a very positive past in terms of participation with the German national team since she started her international experience in 2015 and was able to participate and make an impact in the 2019 Women’s World Cup and be even more fundamental for the team during UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 during which Germany finished as runner-up.

It is, therefore, expected that Magull would still represent a precious element in Germany’s midfield during the upcoming continental and international competitions, especially if she keeps her excellent run of form going and succeeds in playing at her best with Inter.

In this tactical analysis and scout report, the aim is to take an extensive look at Magull’s playmaking, defensive and attacking abilities while exploring how she can fit into Inter Milan’s tactics and what roles she can master within the team in order to help them attain their seasonal targets and long term objectives too. The analysis will, therefore, start with identifying Magull’s possible positions and roles.

Positions and roles at Inter Milan

Magull is a midfielder with impressive versatility in terms of positions that she can occupy. She plays at her best in the advanced midfielder position. She can also play comfortably as a central midfielder, given her great control of the ball and her remarkable physical strength, especially when having the ball, as she protects it well. At the same time, she is a player who can be used on the wings and as a second striker when needed.

Magull has already been used in these positions at Bayern Munich and was successful overall in interpreting the roles of each position well, which highlights her professionalism and her excellent understanding of the tactical roles given to her despite their frequent changes.

At Inter Milan, Rita Guarino has to ensure that Magull adapts well to Inter Milan’s playing style and tactics while using her in an effective way and giving her roles that suit her profile.

These roles might include resisting an opposing high press, build-up and playmaking duties, as well as contributing with goalscoring since Magull has some excellent shooting abilities, whether from distance or inside the box.

Moreover, she can be a very reliable set-piece taker for Inter Milan, as she proved at Bayern Munich and Germany. Inter can also use Magull’s dynamism inside the final third since she is a player who moves well and intelligently without the ball, especially when trying to press opponents high.

On some occasions, using her near the strikers or even as a second striker would be very useful for Inter Milan to exploit her excellent attacking addition. In Rita Guarino’s Inter Milan, the recent reliance on the 4-4-2 formation suits Magull well since she is used to such formations, whether when used as a second striker or as a central midfielder with freedom to advance to the final third whenever needed. Inter Milan’s 4-3-3 or 3-5-2 at times do not represent for Magull since she can always fit in those formations, whether as a central midfielder or as an advanced midfielder/second striker.

With players like Ghoutia Karchouni and Lisa Alborghetti, who are already starters for Inter, Magull can replace one of the two — she has already been used in midfield alongside Sofie Junge Pedersen and Irene Santi in her first match with the Nerazzurre according to a 3-5-2 formation.

At the same time, she can be more efficient as an advanced playmaker in this same formation, making it a 3-4-1-2 instead in order to give Magull more attacking freedom and allow her to play between the lines and link between midfield and the two strikers.

The following heatmap shows that Magull can play in most advanced positions and moves a lot inside the opponent’s own half, and retreats less to her team’s own half, meaning that advanced positions suit her more than the central midfielder one, requiring an alternation between defensive and attacking roles.

Attacking attributes and possible addition to Inter Milan

From an attacking point of view, Magull is a very dangerous attacking player, even though she does not give the impression of being a very attacking player and looks rather like a defensive or a standard central midfielder. However, Magull can interpret attacking positions extremely well since she moves well and quickly without the ball, has some excellent shooting techniques and can be considered a great passer, too.

With an average of 86.1% in terms of passing accuracy and 76.8% in terms of passes towards the final third, and 60.5% of passes towards the penalty box, Magull definitely has some of the best statistics in terms of passing and can prove this fact even further at Inter Milan if she gets the chance to play close to the penalty box to provide more assists and key passes.

The following example highlights Magull’s ability to provide key passes between the lines and link between midfield and attack thanks to her great vision and technique, whether when building up from the back or during counterattacks like in this example.

Moreover, Magull is a player who can cross with accuracy using both feet, knowing that she had experiences as a winger and, therefore, is accustomed to playing on the wings and knows how to deal with complicated situations on both sides. This represents an addition for a midfielder and allows Magull to be dangerous from each of these positions. In this picture, we see Magull attempting a cross from the left wing using her left foot to create a goalscoring situation for her teammate.

In terms of shooting and finishing, Magull has also been an excellent finisher, especially during the last five years or so for Germany and Bayern Munich, since she moves well inside the box and can also score from range.

What makes Magull’s goals special is that she usually scores them on big occasions like she did during the Euros, the World Cup and the UWCL, and does not really get impacted by pressure in this regard. The following goal action highlights Magull’s ability to position herself inside the box and score with headers without really getting distracted by marking, which shows that she can be useful when played as a second striker.

Another perfect example that highlights Magull’s great sense of positioning as an attacking player is her goal against England during UEFA Euro 2022, using her left foot and moving like a pure striker to reach her teammate’s cross and execute an outstanding first-time finish that surprised England’s goalkeeper.

Moreover, Magull is a player who often provides passing solutions to her teammates, whether during the build-up or in the final phases of the attack, to receive a final pass and finish the action.

She usually waits for second balls to exploit them with shots from distance or assists; during counterattacks, she often initiates the action and provides a passing solution to potentially finish it if there are no better options.

This goal action against Austria highlights this great sense of positioning inside the box once again, which differentiates Magull from other midfielders. Also, the ease with which she executes her shots and the quick decision-making in this regard makes her shots unpredictable and complicated to save, even though they are not always very powerful yet usually accurate.

Defensive abilities

From a defensive perspective, Magull is not really a defensive midfielder. Yet, she can occupy this role when needed and often resorts to sliding tackles to get away from difficult situations. She wins 64.2% defensive duels per game, 38.4% in aerial duels, a number that can be improved, and makes 3.9 interceptions per match. These numbers are good overall for a rather attacking midfielder, which stresses that Magull can be considered an all-round midfielder.

Her execution of tackles in a quick and efficient way most of the time make her defensive contributions usually fruitful as she does not neglect her defensive duties and becomes valuable enough when in the defensive phase.

This example shows one of Magull’s successful sliding tackles against Spain, knowing that Magull does not hesitate when executing such tackles and often times these interceptions well. Nevertheless, reducing the mistimed tackles is always necessary in order to reduce the number of committed fouls per match.

Conclusion

Lina Magull’s move to Inter Milan can definitely be considered a win-win transfer deal for both parties as this move will represent a new challenge for Magull, who would like to impress in Serie A Women and re-confirm her abilities in a new environment.

At the same time, Inter Milan will reinforce their midfield with a world-class player having a lot of international experience to help the team reach their short and long-term objectives. The key, however, is to know how to get the best of Magull’s abilities and use her in an appropriate way.