Legendary Inter goalkeeper Gianluca Pagliuca has been highly complimentary of current Inter number one Samir Handanovic.
“He is a certainty for Inter in between the sticks. He remains one of the best goalkeepers in Europe. He is a very complete keeper, very reactive, good at getting down to low shots, he has courage, personality and physique, he is missing nothing,” he said in an interview with Corriere della Sera.
Next Pagliuca spoke on what he would do in terms of finding an heir to the ageing Slovenian shot-stopper.
“I would sign a 27/28-year-old who has good prospects of starting and taking over the place of Handanovic in a couple of years time. In any case though, they should be able to play immediately.”
Pagliuca, who spent five years with Inter between 1994-99, then spoke on the renewal situation of Mauro Icardi.
“Every year, more or less, he asks for a renewal and therefore Inter should be used to handling these situations. A true captain does not have to ask for more money continuously. In my time as a player there were no wives of players acting as an agent.”
He went on to discuss Inter’s recent on-pitch crisis.
“I believe that after the result against Parma, Inter may be out of the crisis. Now their adventure in the Europa League is about to begin and they can go all the way.
“At the beginning of the season I predicted Inter would finish third and I have not changed my mind because after Juventus and Napoli, Inter are the strongest team.
“It is a shame that they were eliminated from the Coppa Italia but now this allows them to focus almost solely on their initial expectations which was to make the Champions League next season.”
