Massimo Moratti talked exclusively to the paper TuttoSport and his words were as always never banal. The nerazzurri president affronts all themes Inter at 360 degrees, starting with the scaring thought of selling the club.
– Am I selling Inter? It all began with the Chinese partner that manifested and interest in entering in the company. Afterwards there have been other meetings in Europe and in the Orient says Moratti.
But is it true that the business bank Lazard has been designated to investigate the matter?
– Yes I admit to that. I know the Lazard bank very well; they are experts in ramifications for fusions and business acquisitions. The intent though is to follow the Chinese line. I am looking for a partner to build the stadium. Percentages?
– It doesn’t matter because I will keep minimum 51%. The important thing is that the stadium is something that is owned by the club and not a foreign entity. There are also some potential American buyers. Even without the partner I am still building a new stadium. I want it modern, but not too modern. It needs to work with and follow the style of the city. I have a series of projects on the table and one intrigues me very much. Obviously there is need for a law to hurry up the bureaucratic procedures.
The desire to leave it all
– Many times I have had the temptation to sell the club. I think this is something that has struck everyone’s mind, except for Andrea Agnelli who has just begun. I’ll do it when it is right, because at the end of the day after a while some new faces are needed. And the need of new ideas becomes bigger. To sell is something that comes to mind for many reasons, but then.. I think of the fans and their confidence in me and I tell myself “I can’t cheat them”.
A downsized Inter
– It is obvius thatwe have chosen a lower profile, but this happened with the Grande Inter as well. We need to lay the foundations for the future and be patient. This season is one of transition, or actually one of construction. At the beginning many obstacles, then we started getting better and we got a foothold. And I deluded myself… I am comforted by the fact that everyone are working towards the same goal.
A revolution in June?
– Patience, it is important to be able to resist the temptations. The influences arrive from the opponents; they buy a star and what do you do? It makes you think that you cannot sit idle twirling your thumbs and so you expose yourself, and spend. Now thinking like that is no longer sustainable.
– Berlusconi bought Balotelli? If there were an election every year he would buy a star every year; it is an excuse to have fun. But Berlusconi is also aware that in football we need to calm down.
Ronaldo and calciopoli
– Ronaldo is the most intelligent buy made by me personally during my management (of Inter). But now it would be unthinkable. Once I would feel obliged to try and win, but here we slip into calciopoli.. Amazing team, fantastic bench, but nothing; you couldn’t win. Now it seems to me that it is finished. More or less. At least we hope so.
– Seven years after I don’t think I want to wake up an ugly sickness that was eradicated. Now I think that football is cleaner, before there was an organization and now there is Scommessopoli which is a different thing altogether.
Moratti then goes on to talk about his relationship with Andrea Agnelli and that scudetto from 2006 that the juventini are after.
– I don’t think Agnelli will be able to pinch this scudetto from me, I know how the situation was and I do not see any injustice only a consequence. Then I say that, that is the scudetto I love the most. A little bit to provoke, and a little bit because it is the result out of many years of suffering. And I would like to point out that the relationship with Andrea (Agnelli) is excellent, I wish him the best. He is a young gentleman and skilled. There is affection between us and we are even allied in the lega calico where we share a program.
– Galliani? His is also a winning tactics. He likes to have the levers of power but he is extremely prepared and also.. opportunistic.
Champions, Strama and Mourinho.
– The Champions means 30 million Euros of income missed and it is the base to work on, it is a question of survival but I do not know how much is acknowledged by those who go out on the pitch.
Moratti then talks about the difference with Stramaccioni compared to other more established managers. How Strama cannot be put under the same line of reasoning as other managers before him because of his age and experience.
– He has many qualities and it would be a shame to “burn” him for unexpected situations. This is why I am very careful not to throw him away. Mourinho? We are very close to José. Maybe at Real they don’t appreciate it when he says: “us interisti”. When he would enter the dressing room it was as if a thousand lamps were turned alight. And then Benitez, totally different and let’s just leave it at that. Anyway there is no possibility that he returns.
The Argentinians, Cassano, Icardi and…
– Zanetti is not quitting, he continues; have you seen how much he runs? Milito and Cambiasso are two who want the best for Inter and are disposed to sign new reduced contracts. When the time comes to discuss it there will be no problems whatsoever.
He then goes on to praise Samuel who isn’t retiring either.
– He (Samuel) has many battles behind him, but he is a rock. And Cassano still has another year of contract with us. Then there is Icardi who should be our reinforcement if we can close the deal with Samp. But he is not the vice-Milito who after his injury will paradoxically be even more charged up. Anyway I see Icardi fitting in well with us.
And what about Livaja?
– I regeret having to let him go, but Schelotto scored in the derby! With a full squad Marko (Livaja) couldn’t stay, he needed to play but then Milito got injured right after. As for Carew he is a good person but he would have needed a month to get in shape.
Triplete and rebuilding
– After the triplete I couldn’t overturn everything because there was no motive to revolutionize the squad. There had to be the right opportunities on the transfer market. In any case Eto’o and Balotelli left. And the coach. The dilemma was; continue with the stars who were maybe a bit satiated or bet on the youngsters who would need three years to understand how Inter works and how to win. We are under construction and in football you need patience.
Source: fcinternews.it and TuttoSport
