Brescia president and owner Massimo Cellino has revealed that Sandro Tonali was convinced he was going to make a move move to Inter.
Inter had courted the highly rated Italian national team player for a considerable amount of time and even reportedly agreed a five year contract with him but Inter pulled the plug on their move to sign him and Tonali is now on the verge of joining Inter’s city rivals AC Milan instead.
“Tonali was a very popular player also internationally, in January we refused a very important offer from Barcelona, then Covid came and the world collapsed,” Cellino explained in an interview with Italian television channel Top Calcio 24, which was aired a short time ago.
“Inter were determined to sign him, they had already found an agreement with the player. Before the deal with Milan, a few days ago, there was an offer from Manchester United but once the boy heard from AC Milan he went crazy, he is a Milan fan and is in love. I gave him my word that I would let him go where he chose.”
He then went on to speak about how Inter’s management team has changed compared to the management that he was used to dealing with at the Nerazzurri club.
“I have always been pro-Inter, I respect Marotta and Ausilio, but I no longer see the soul of the old Inter. I am used to dealing with Moratti’s Inter, I was a fan of Angelo Moratti’s Inter.
“Honestly, even though Marotta and Ausilio are there whom I respect, I have no intention of meeting the president, perhaps he is too rich to appear in the league with us.
“I spoke with Marotta constantly, I promised him that I would keep them as first choice because he already wanted him when he was at Juventus.”
He proceeded to discuss Inter’s interest in signing Tonali and also revealed that upon learning of AC Milan’s offer, Tonali had no interest in anything else other than completing a move to the Rossoneri, the club he is a fan of.
“Marotta was very keen, I know that Conte appreciated Tonali a lot, I think his agent also had contact with Inter. He was determined and convinced that he was going to Inter, then I don’t know, maybe there was no money available.
“All this wasted time tore the situation apart and brought us to the start of the new season, until AC Milan appeared with determination and a real desire and once they did the boy didn’t want to hear anything else.
“I have an excellent relationship historically with AC Milan and with Maldini we found a solution that suited both of us.”
