Stefan de Vrij believes Inter made ‘an important step’ last season to set up this year’s Serie A title charge.

The Dutch international defender was named in the Italian Footballers’ Association’s Serie A Team of the Year for the 2019-20 season, along with teammate Nicolo Barella.

De Vrij received the award officially tonight at the Gran Gala del Calcio, although one would assume he did not attend given he tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday.

“This award is a source of great satisfaction,” the 29-year-old said, as quoted by FcInterNews.it.

“It’s a great honour to be recognised by colleagues and coaches.

“I think we made an important step last season, we came close to winning both in Serie A and in the UEFA Europa League.

“This means we’ve improved individually and most importantly as a team.”

De Vrij and Matias Vecino became Inter’s third and fourth players to contract COVID-19 this week, after Danilo D’Ambrosio and Samir Handanovic had also tested positive.

Inter confirmed this afternoon that another member of its ‘team group’ had caught the virus as well, with subsequent reports suggesting it was someone in Antonio Conte’s backroom staff.

Tomorrow’s Serie A fixture at home to Sassuolo was postponed on the orders of Milan’s local health authority, who have also barred Inter’s players from joining up with their national teams next week.