Marco Fassone talked to Tuttosport in a very long interview:
Director, where is Inter standing right now:
“We have arrived halfways, we’ve finished Moratti’s sale to Thohir and the historical cycle from 2006-2011 is over. We have started over again, but there’s still a long way to go.”
Blanc who you worked with at Juventus said: “To reconstruct, five years are needed”
“Juventus won after Calciopoli in 2012. We won our last scudetto in 2010 and I don’t know if we’ll be ready to win again in 2016. Since Mancini arrived, we’ve entered the last phase of the reconstruction and next season with a team that is more Mancini’s we’ll be able to compete with the best teams.”
Is it impossible to get Yaya Touré?
“Who doesn’t dream of having a player like Touré in their team. Touré would give our club something that we are missing today, though his wages and City’s demand are not small obstacles.”
Mancini insists though, could he help you arrive to the players you want?
“Yes without a doubt. Already in January some very important players considered our project just because of Mancini, without thinking about money. Roberto is needed for the top players and he loves being a part of our meetings, he knows a lot of the players in Europe and he is the central part of our motor.”
Could Mancini be what Conte was for Juventus?
“Conte won straight away and became an idol. I hope that Roberto can do the same thing in short time. He was clear when he arrived and he wants to win straight away and take Inter back to the Champions League.”
What didn’t go well with Mazzarri?
“I think that the environment around him made him suffer and limited his potentials. In the last games he wasn’t the same Mazzarri, he didn’t even leave the bench to charge the team. This is where I understood that he was suffering and that we had to do something.”
Is Inter more convinced about selling Icardi or Kovacic?
“We want both to stay and before considering an offer we will value it accurately. For Icardi’s renewal very little is missing. If we want to buy at least three players to create a stable ground, we also need to sell players to do so. Though this doesn’t mean an important player has to be sold, we have many players out there that can become important economically for us.”
Handanovic’s contract is expiring 2016…
“It’s a question we need to solve very soon. In the coming days we will talk to his agent but we want to know what Samir wants to do, we can’t remain next season with our first goalkeeper having an expiring contract.”
Will you sit down with Cairo(Torino’s president) for Darmian?
“Torino is one of the most expensive clubs to negotiate with Italy. We like Darmian, but that’s it for now. Though we have to meet up with Cairo to talk about Benassi.”
How is it to work with Thohir, a president that lives 15000km away?
“Us Italians are used to physical contact and sometimes you need to meet up to talk, though Thohir handles this club as international owners do. He gives his management huge responsibility and asks for attention and passion. Though since when he took over he has came to Milan about ten times and is always working very hard.”
People expected an Abramovich, Thohir is the opposite…
“I will make a simple count, that makes the situation clear. If we put together Inter’s increased value after Thohir bought the club, the money that came the months after and the re-financiation he had to do a year ago for Moratti and the banks, Thohir has with his finances and not only his own, invested about 400 million euro’s in Inter. He is a solid entrepreneur and he has made an economical investment wanting this money to return.”
What would change without the Europa League?
“Economically wise it wouldn’t be an important loss because the millions we get to participate in the Europa League would be covered by the money we get for friendlies in the summer. The negative part would be the image of the club because for Inter it would be the second time in the last three years that the club is outside of Europe. The visibility pays of and being outside of Europe would slow down the growth of our brand. We’re hoping to get results in the last ten games because we have been playing well, without winning.”
Were you expecting more from Mancini?
“Roberto, just as all of us, didn’t expect all these difficulties, but he wanted to start something new and he has brought a new system thinking of the future. We all knew we took a risk and if we made other decisions, we could’ve have more points.”
How are the negotiations about Financial Fair play going?
“We believe that there will be an agreement soon, even if it must be said that Inter’s financial results from 2010 and after hasn’t been coerent with the rules. With this said, we are working hard to get our finances into place and this year, historically for Inter and for Italian clubs, our costs will be lower than our riches and we will have a positive financial balance.”
Milano is in a big crisis, which team is in the worst state?
“I don’t want to judge the others, though for me it seems like Milan is where we were in 2012. Today after 16 months we have completed the change to Thohir from Moratti and we hope to have left some difficulties behind us. We have also made important decisions for the future with Mancini as coach. I think that Milan is in the beginning of this process. Milan and Inter are together with Juventus the leading train of our football and I think it will be hard to see Italian football being reborn without the Milanese clubs being strong again.”
The FIGC president Tavecchio talked to Tuttosport about Juventus suing FIGC and seemed worried about the economical demands(Juve wants 443 million euro’s). What do you think about that?
“Tavecchio thinks about a fundamental aspect of this and this is the economical impact it would have on the FIGC. He is worried about this because there are risks in competing with an important club.”
Tavecchio is also worried about the financial status of 50% of the Italian clubs…
“It’s right to be so seeing what happened with Parma but at the same time I’d say that with honesty and following the rules that has been given, the risks of another case like Parma’s are smaller. It’s right that the FIGC have asked us to do something, but I think if the Italian clubs pay attention, 95% of Italian clubs won’t have problems. Tavecchio has presented a reforming program and has shown that he is determined to do something about the situation. Now we’re waiting for the championship to be changed, we want Serie A to have 18 teams.”
How are you going to make the fans return to San Siro?
“The CEO Bolingbroke is working hard on this. At Manchester he had an Old Trafford that was overbooked and I’m sure that he will be able to bring people back to San Siro.”
Source: Fcinternews.it