The Croatian midfielder, born in 1994, is now just a year from the expiry of his Manchester City contract and has begun weighing up his options for the future. His representatives have already approached Inter's Appiano Gentile training complex, proposing a return for their former player.
Inter Milan's position, according to sources close to the club, is not one of total rejection. Certainly, before the door could reopen for Kovacic, the club would need to finalise several departures first, but the Croatia international would represent a solution combining quality and experience, valuable not just within the dressing room but in the wider context of the squad.
Kovacic previously spent two seasons at Inter between 2013 and 2015. Bought from Dinamo Zagreb for €11m, he was sold to Real Madrid for €38m at the end of his spell in Milan, allowing the club to bank a significant profit on the deal.
Since leaving Inter, Kovacic has gone on to enjoy a decorated career, winning multiple trophies at both Real Madrid and Chelsea before moving to Manchester City, where he had been a regular fixture in former manager Pep Guardiola's midfield.
Now approaching the closing stages of his career at 32, a reunion with Inter would offer him a route back to Serie A and a club with which he retains strong ties.
For now, Inter's priority remains sorting out their squad's outgoings before any decision is made on whether to pursue a move for Kovacic, whose experience at the highest level of the European game would represent a notable addition regardless of when in his career it might happen.
Since leaving Inter for Real Madrid in 2015, Kovacic has won three Champions League titles at the Bernabeu, followed by further European success at Chelsea including the 2021 Champions League and a Europa League triumph, before adding a Premier League title in his first season at Manchester City in 2023-24.