Nicolò Barella today revealed he would only have left Cagliari for Inter this summer as the midfielder gave his first interview since joining the Nerazzurri.

The 22-year-old has joined on loan with an obligation to buy and began training with his new teammates in Singapore last week.

Barella made his debut against Manchester United on Saturday and could be in line to start against Juventus this afternoon.

“It was certainly a great feeling to join Inter,” Barella told Corriere dello Sport.

“The club really wanted me and I really wanted them. I waited a long time for this moment and finally it’s arrived.”

Barella admitted he had struggled to get up to speed during Conte’s first few training sessions but he only had words of praise for his new boss.

“These are the toughest training sessions I’ve done in my career along with Zdenek Zeman’s old sessions,” he continued.

“Conte is maniacal with everything, he doesn’t leave anything to chance. He didn’t say anything particular to me whenever we spoke on the phone but he made me feel important.

“It’s gratifying to know one of the best coaches in the world wants you and appreciates you.”

Roma and Napoli also made attempts to sign Barella during the last twelve months, but neither could shake his desire to sign for Inter.

“I spoke clearly with Cagliari’s owner Tommaso Giulini and I told him if he hadn’t reached an agreement with Inter then I’d have stayed in Sardinia,” Barella revealed.

“I was very calm and in no rush to leave Cagliari, it wasn’t like I needed to escape from my home city. You never know what can happen in football and I’ve left the door open to return there one day.”

Barella described Inter’s sporting project as ‘ambitious and serious’ and assured they were always his first choice.

“This is the ideal place for me to work and improve my game,” he added.

“Logic would suggest our objective for this season is to improve last season’s fourth-place finish, but when you have a coach like Conte the target is to win things.

“Juventus have a great squad but it won’t be easy for them either this year, because they’ve changed coach and brought in someone who has different ideas. We’ll keep pace with them.”

Barella also said his target for the coming season was to score more goals, having hit the post on five occasions last year.

“I was a little unfortunate really. I hope I can help Inter by scoring goals as well as with my dynamism.”

The midfielder also spared a word for his new teammate Radja Nainggolan, who is likely to depart in the next few weeks.

“We share the same agent but he’s a friend as well,” Barella concluded.

“He’s an adopted Sardinian so we spent a lot of time together there. I want the best for him.”