Branca: “We Knew Ibra Wanted Barca, We’d Been Speaking With Eto’o People For 2-3 Years”

Former Inter director Marco Branca spoke on the swap deal done with Spanish giants Barcelona that saw Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Samuel Eto’o swap places.

“It took us by surprise because after the departure of Maxwell we knew Ibra wanted to follow him to play at Barcelona,” Branca said on the stage at the Festival of Sport event in Trento that was dedicated to the Triplete winning Inter side.

Branca went on to reveal that a deal for Eto’o in particular had been a long time in the making and recalled the moment Moratti, who served as Inter and president for 18 years between 1995 and 2013, called him and told him that Barcelona were there to get a deal done with him.

“I had been talking to Eto’o’s entourage for 2 to 3 years. President Moratti called me and summoned me to one of his houses because Barcelona were there to talk about Ibra with him.”