Inter rejected the opportunity to sign Roma striker Edin Dzeko in a swap deal involving Christian Eriksen, Gianluca Di Marzio revealed tonight.
Eriksen is due to stay with the Nerazzurri until the end of the season after scoring a stoppage-time free-kick to fire Inter past AC Milan in last night’s Coppa Italia quarter-final.
But the Denmark international’s future could have been very different, had Inter shown a greater interest in exchanging him with Dzeko, who fell out with Giallorossi boss Paulo Fonseca last week.
As per Di Marzio, the Bosnian’s agent Alessandro Lucci tried to set up a six-month loan swap between the clubs but Inter were never completely convinced.
His report did not specify whether Roma were in favour of a deal, but in any case it seems there was a chance to at least explore a temporary solution had they been interested.
Eriksen’s first serious interest in January came from his former club Tottenham Hotspur, but the Premier League high-flyers were only prepared to re-sign him on a free loan, an offer which almost irritated Inter.
Leicester City were the side who came closest to signing Eriksen after offering the Nerazzurri €4 million to take the 28-year-old on loan, while also pledging to pay his wages in full for the remainder of the season.
The Foxes were unable to push a deal through however due to fiscal complications, which meant Eriksen would have needed to receive a higher salary in England just to continue receiving the same money he was getting at Inter.
Talks therefore fell through, despite Leicester offering Inter exactly the kind of loan deal they were looking for in order to part company with Eriksen in January.
