Giuseppe ‘Beppe’ Marotta, Inter’s chief executive, spoke with reporters on the sidelines of Inter’s Christmas dinner last night on a range of topics, starting with his arrival at the club.

“I have joined an important club who are looking for victories. I will try to bring passion and commitment to the table,” he told the gathered reporters.

He proceeded to discuss the situation surrounding Mauro Icardi’s possible renewal.

“Icardi is an important player who merits being recognised economically [with a new deal]. The proposal months back was not considered fair by him and his people but I am sure we will reach a positive conclusion.

He then spoke on how long he thinks it will take for Inter to be competing for the title with Juventus again.

“It will take one to two years to return to these great levels but already this year we arrived in the Champions League which means both the club and the players have grown.”

He then affirmed Inter’s commitment to current manager Luciano Spalletti.

“Spalletti is an experienced coach who is working well.The elimination from the Champions does not mean anything. The half way point of the season is ahead and we can evaluate the performances then. There is optimism to go ahead with him as we have just signed a new three year contract with him.”

He also appeared to dismiss the idea of Jose Mourinho returning to the club anytime soon following his sacking from Manchester United.

“Right now we have to think about Inter’s present, not the past.”

He concluded the interview by speaking on the recent comments of Pavel Nedved about him..

“I do not do controversy, we have already discussed this too much and there are other more important situations to be evaluated.”