Inter will do everything in their power to keep three players in particular at the club, according to a report in the Italian media today.
As per Gazzetta dello Sport’s print edition, Antonio Conte wants Inter to keep his starting XI from this season intact if he is to remain as their head coach.
Inter have revived contact with Lautaro Martinez’s agent over a contract extension, a move which is said to prove El Toro is considered ‘untouchable’ for the Nerazzurri.
There are only two players considered to be even less sellable than Lautaro, the Milan-based paper reported, and they are Romelu Lukaku and Nicolo Barella.
Conte has worked enormously hard to develop Lautaro’s game and was instrumental last summer in keeping him focused on Inter, following several months of speculation linking him with Barcelona.
Inter’s boss has helped the striker ‘become a man’, the report argued, having smoothed out certain excesses in his character and helped Lautaro form a devastating strike partnership with Lukaku.
Lautaro is due to sign a new three-year deal with his annual salary increased to €4.5 million plus bonuses, as Inter reiterated to his agent Alejandro Camano at the weekend.
The 23-year-old’s future will become clearer once Inter have sorted their financing deal, which should be finalised in the next few days.