AS Monaco coach Niko Kovac suggested in a press conference yesterday that Inter midfielder Marcelo Brozovic was a strong player but not a transfer target. His words were noted by French media outlet Nice-Matin.

“I think it is always very easy to be approached by a player I have already coached in the past. I had Brozovic in the Croatian Under 21 squad.”

The former Bayern Munich coach then highlighted how Monaco are not looking to acquire the 27-year-old Croatian midfielder, who seems destined to leave this summer as the Milanese club look to fund other investments.

“He is an excellent player, he plays for a great team in Italy like Inter and he is part of the national team. But honestly, he is not a player for us. We are looking at other options at the moment.”

The 27-year-old Brozovic, who is contracted to the Nerazzurri until 2022, featured regularly for coach Antonio Conte last season, making 46 appearances across all competitions for a total of 3864 minutes.

In that time, the 2018 World Cup finalist scored three goals and provided eight assists.

Inter are looking to strengthen their midfield this summer and after securing Barcelona’s Arturo Vidal, want to focus on Chelsea’s N’Golo Kante.

The 29-year-old Frenchman is valued at around €50 million by the Blues and so the Nerazzurri need to sell before they can look to make the investment, with Brozovic one of the players likely to make way.