Legendary former Inter defender Marco Materazzi feels that no matter what happens with the situation of defender Milan Skriniar, fans must put their faith in the club to find the best solution.
Speaking to Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport in an interview published in today’s print edition, Materazzi gave his thoughts on the possibility of a sale of the Slovakian, as well as on the team’s preseason preparations overall.
Skriniar’s future remains in the balance, as the club clearly are not inclined to sell the 27-year-old but also know that a huge offer could still come in from Paris Saint-Germain which would be difficult to turn down on a financial level.
As far as Materazzi is concerned, Skriniar and all of the other key players in the squad are vital and losing them would represent a major blow, but he does not want to be pessimistic about what will happen should a painful sale take place.
“All Inter players who have been at the heart of the team in recent seasons are fundamentally important and considered untouchable, we know this,” he said.
“But we must trust what the club decides to do,” he continued. “A few years ago they guaranteed, ‘We will return to the highest levels,’ first the Scudetto, then last season two other trophies and just barely losing out on the title.”
Of the team’s defensive struggles in preseason, Materazzi argued that “It’s just a problem of the summer, there’s no question regarding the quality of the players.”
“Let’s remember that Skriniar spent a lot of time recovering from an injury that he picked up in June and is still regaining his best physical condition,” he continued. “With the defenders back to their best, there won’t be any more problems.”
Regarding the team’s search for balance with Romelu Lukaku back in the squad, Materazzi said that “It’s always a question of form. Lukaku has made a choice, to return after a season spent on the periphery.”
“He needs to get back to playing ninety minutes regularly to regain to show his full potential,” he predicted of the Belgian, “and then there won’t be any issues. There’s great chemistry between him and Lautaro, everything will come naturally.”
Asked if he considers Inter to be title favourites, he noted that “Other teams have strengthened too, notably Roma.”
And regarding the targeting of Lazio’s Francesco Acerbi and Borussia Dortmund’s Manuel Akanji as options to strengthen in defense, Materzzi said that “I don’t know much about Akanji but I will put my unconditional trust in the club’s choices.”
“Regarding Acerbi there’s little to say,” he continued, “he’s always on the spot, he works hard and talks little. And Inzaghi is very familiar with him, which is an important factor.”
“Improving Inter is never easy,” Materazzi continued. “They lost Perisic who was an important to the balance of the team. Consequently, I expect a lot from Gosen, there’s no doubt that he’s capable of scoring 11-12 goals a season.”
“Now he must do what he was doing at Atalanta at Inter,” he said of the German, “this is where we see the difference between a top player and a normal player.”
“He has a great opportunity and he knows it,” he added. “Last season Perisic did so well that it was difficult to even think of leaving him out, this season the starting spotis his, but he has to prove that he deserves it, because Dimarco is ready and I’m a huge fan of his as well.”
