Beppe Marotta deserves endless credit for his role in Inter’s Serie A title triumph, according to the Nerazzurri’s former chief executive Ernesto Paolillo.

Inter were confirmed as champions yesterday for the first time since 2010, when Atalanta were held to a 1-1 draw away at Sassuolo.

Marotta joined the Nerazzurri as their CEO for sport at the end of 2018 and his predecessor was full of praise for the work he had done since then.

“Everyone deserves credit, from the coach to the players and Inter’s two chief executives,” Paolillo told TuttoMercatoWeb today.

“Marotta and Alessandro Antonello deserve to be recognised as part of this scudetto; they worked brilliantly in terms of the sporting decisions.

“Let’s not forget it was Marotta who brought Conte to Inter.

“Marotta and Antonello managed a difficult situation when the president was absent and the players were not paid their salaries.

“Those are very delicate moments, so managing to keep the team united and assuring the players their money would have arrived was a job very well done.

“I’ve seen other clubs where incredible things happen when players don’t get paid, but here it only united Inter’s group even further.”

Inter are known to be battling serious economic problems and this could lead to a painful transfer market for Nerazzurri supporters.

Asked if fans should expect the club to downscale their plans ahead of next season, Paolillo said: “It’s clear that Inter need €70 million and they need their accounts to be in order.

“They’ll need to operate very intelligently, they’ll need some sales which help.

“On the flipside they need to invest in players that cost less, perhaps some young talents that could explode into form.

“Marotta’s ability will help here.”

Paolillo was then asked directly if Inter were likely to sell off one or more of their key players their summer, in a bid to balance the books.

“Sometimes those sales are necessary, they’re a motivation for those who are behind them in the pecking order and they’re necessary for clubs’ accounts,” he added.

“They shouldn’t be seen as destructive; I remember when we gave up Zlatan Ibrahimovic to sign Samuel Eto’o.”

Inter have a 13-point lead over Atalanta, AC Milan and Juventus with four games left, which means the celebrations can finally get under way.