Former Inter defender Marco Materazzi has said that Milan Skriniar has struggled in recent weeks due to the injury he suffered during pre-season rather than transfer speculation, according to a report in the Italian media today.

Speaking during an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport, Marco Materazzi discussed a number of topics around Inter and one of them was the poor form of Milan Skriniar so far this season. 

Many have put it down to the distraction of almost being sold to Paris Saint-Germain in the summer and the continued speculation around a new contract but when asked about that, Marco Materazzi said it was something else.

“No, I rather think he paid the price for the injury that made him miss the start of preparation,” he said.

“Then, of course, he was not insensitive to what happened around him. But he has always responded presently.”

He was asked about whether it is wise to still be thinking about the Scudetto and he used an anecdote to show that there is a lot of the season left to play.

“In the year after the Triplete at one point we were 19 points from the lead. Then after the World Cup a clever coach arrived and if we hadn’t lost the return derby we would have even won the Scudetto again. 

“Here, this Inter already has an intelligent coach: they just have to make sure that from January onwards it depends only on them and not on others to win again.”

Inter played differently in a tactical sense in the win over Barcelona and he agreed that it should stay that way.

“It has to be. Inter must start from the fact of not conceding goals, because with the offensive potential they have sooner or later they will score.”

Federico Dimarco has received a lot of praise recently and he got even more from Marco Materazzi.

“That opening move of his on goal was the play of the match. If you make those gestures there it means you have confidence above others.

“He must be the key part of the group: he’s been playing with Inter since he was six years old, he has feelings that others can’t have.”

Romelu Lukaku should return soon for Inter and on him he said: “Romelu must first get back to being 100% fit.

“He’s probably taken an excessive step forward during his recovery from injury, because he’s so keen to help out.”