Milan Skriniar is dreaming of Serie A glory with Inter after his performances were rewarded with a special prize back home.
The defender discovered yesterday that he had won Slovak Footballer of the Year for the second year running, an award handed out by the Slovakian FA in conjunction with news outlet Pravda.
Skriniar admitted he was surprised to win the award again after a less-than-perfect first season with Antonio Conte at Inter, in which he struggled at first to adapt to a three-man defence.
The 26-year-old is back to his best now and told Sportinak.sk: “I’m not thinking about winning this again, I hope to win with Inter and the Slovakia national team.
“I always want to be important for my team.
“I’m very happy to have received this award; it’s not only my work, because I couldn’t do anything without my Inter or Slovakia teammates.
“I’m grateful to them and this award is an extra motivation for me.
“I thought I’d (only) be in the top three because my last season was good but not perfect.
“I’m happy to have won, I need to keep working and going forwards.
“Having a daughter born has also helped me, she’s inspired me.
“I’ve managed to get more space in the Inter and I think I can maintain what I’ve obtained so far.”
Skriniar seemed set to join Tottenham Hotspur last summer after falling behind Diego Godin in Antonio Conte’s pecking order at the back.
He has since regained his spot in the Inter starting XI, though, scoring one of the most important goals of the Nerazzurri’s season earlier this month when they beat Atalanta 1-0.
Skriniar has scored three goals in Serie A for Conte’s side during the current campaign.
