Inter striker Romelu Lukaku’s agent, Federico Pastorello, discussed the Coronavirus emergency, its effects on football and his client in an interview with Italian broadcaster Sky Sports Italia earlier today.
First, Pastorello discussed the effects on the market once the emergency is over.
“It’s a good question. No one can know. We have to see when this pandemic will end. The primary event is the conclusion of the European leagues. If the leagues will end, as I hope, there will be effects, but only for one season.”
The agent then discussed why the 26-year-old Belgian client joined Inter instead of Juventus last summer.
“Romelu had expressed the desire to leave the Premier League. He needs to feel loved, that made the difference, he immediately understood the warmth of the Inter fans compared to those of Juventus. The Bianconeri are the best club, the arrival of Lukaku at Juve would have pleased many, but for Inter the acquisition of Romelu was a turning point and this was immediately understood. He felt well liked since the beginning by the fans, even if the lack of agreement between Dybala and Manchester United was decisive.”
Pastorello touched on the difficulty of bringing Lukaku from Manchester United to Inter.
“Without doubt the hardest was that of Lukaku, difficult because United itself is a strong club, we had to force the club to realise that Lukaku wanted to express himself in a different league. For Lukaku there was an important step made by Zhang and Conte, Inter made the right offer, the minimum necessary to bring home the transfer.”
He also discussed another difficult deal that he oversaw.
“The most difficult one was Lichtsteiner’s transfer from Lazio to Juventus. It was a four-month-long negotiation.”
Finally, Pastorello spoke about what would happen regarding loan deals should the leagues run past the 30th June.
“We’re studying the matter with our lawyers. For me that’s exactly what’s going to happen, which is to go beyond 30th June. Either we exclude all players who are due on 30th June, or, and this is the most plausible hypothesis, an extension of one month. Of course, there are players who are expiring and have signed with other clubs. These are rare cases, we’ll need a special waiver.”
Serie A, like most other leagues around Europe, has been postponed due to the fears that the Coronavirus could spread rapidly at games, as well as in training grounds and other areas used by staff and players. UEFA agreed to postpone Euro 2020 in order to allow leagues across the continent to finish on time.
