Geoffrey Kondogbia’s entourage believe Italian football’s peculiar style of play was to blame for the Frenchman’s unsuccessful time at Inter.
Kondogbia secured a permanent move to Valencia on Thursday after the Spanish club exercised their €25 million buy-out option for the midfielder, who spent the 2017-18 season on loan from the Nerazzurri.
Inter signed Kondogbia from AS Monaco in a deal worth approximately €40m back in 2015, but despite the player making 56 appearances in two seasons they failed to see a return on their investment.
Daniel Perez, a member of Kondogbia’s entourage, told VCF Radio on Friday that the Frenchman’s struggles at San Siro were down to him not being suited to Italian football.
“La Liga suits him perfectly, whereas in Italy he encountered a lot of problems due to the style of play,” he said.
“A player like him, who has strength and technique and loves dribbling with the ball at his feet, was very limited there.
“This year we’ve seen the best of Kondogbia, and he can still give much more because he has a big potential.”
Perez also praised Valencia for the way they had treated Kondogbia upon his return to La Liga and added that signing him for €25 million is an excellent deal for them.
“We’re very happy. From the moment Valencia first showed an interest in him we had no doubts about coming here. Geoffrey pushed hard to come here and he wanted to stay.
“We have to applaud the club for the way they’ve handled him; the empathy between Kondogbia, Marcelino and [sporting director] Mateu Alemany has been the key.
“We all pulled in the same direction and we reached an agreement that was positive for everyone, albeit not without difficulty. Italian clubs are tough to negotiate with and Inter in particular are very tough. I think Valencia have got a great deal.”
