Stefan de Vrij has refused to become sidetracked by whether Inter can be the anti-Juventus but did reveal he is hopeful that Inter can achieve a finish within the top four this season in an interview with Corriere dello Sport.

“We want to finish in the top 4 and get in the Champions League again.  It is better to think game by game rather than to think about being an anti-Juventus as it can then become an obsession.”

The Dutchman then spoke on how he was convinced to join the Nerazzurri on a free transfer from Lazio over the summer.

“When I spoke with Spalletti and with the management, I immediately understood how strongly they wanted me, and for me it was decisive to feel so important.”

“I had talked with Wesley Sneijder about Inter too because the rumours about my transfer to Milan had been running for a long time, so one day I asked for his opinion. He convinced me and I told him also last week, when we were together with the national team.”

de Vrij also spoke on his exit from Lazio and the Champions League decider against Inter on the last day of last season and he maintains he remained professional until the very end.

“They knew the kind of person I was at Lazio and if they let me play, it means that they trusted me, none of them told me anything about the mistake I made and that led to the penalty on Icardi. That game was not easy for me as I wanted to do well to confirm my value in the last match with Lazio, but then there was that incident.

“I was trying to recover the ball that Eder had put in the box and I saw that Icardi was not offside and that he would have scored within two steps so I tried to intercept it and ended up taking him out.

“I did my best for Lazio that night, like a real professional. Do you think that if I wanted to help Inter out, I would have waited for the last day? In the penultimate game I saved a goal on the line at Crotone.”