Inter have made Salernitana midfielder Ederson a target for the summer transfer window, but signing him from the Campanian club could prove to be difficult given their desire to keep hold of him for their second season in Serie A.

This according to Salernitana’s Sporting Director Walter Sabatini, who told Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport that his club have every intention of keeping the 22-year-old for next season.

Salernitana had a remarkable escape from relegation, having looked all but doomed in January but bringing in a new Sporting Director in Sabatini, a new coach in Davide Nicola, and a raft of signings in a desperate bid to avoid the drop.

The Campanian team finished their first campaign back in the top flight with a 4-0 defeat against Udinese at home, but they won’t have minded too much as Cagliari’s goalless draw with Venezia meant that they finished ahead of the Rossoblu to secure seventeenth spot in the table.

Salernitana had had to be one of the form teams in all of Italy over much of the second half of the campaign to get to that point, and they had relied significantly on their January signings to do so, with Ederson a standout.

Sabatini looks to have unearthed a gem in the form of the Brazilian, who was one of the most impressive midfielders in Serie A in his half a season in the league, something which has not gone unnoticed by the biggest clubs in the league.

The Nerazzurri are one of the big names reportedly keen on Ederson, and Sabatini admitted that had Salernitana been relegated a sale would have been all but inevitable, but with the leverage of having stayed up, he is more confident that they can keep hold of their jewel.

“We have an amazing player,” he said. “It wasn’t a difficult choice to sign him. If we were in Serie B it would have been impossible to keep him, but in Serie A we will try.”