Inter Vice-President Javier Zanetti: “Conditions There To Find An Agreement To Extend Milan Skriniar’s Contract”

Inter Vice-President Javier Zanetti feels that things are going positively in contract extension talks with defender Milan Skriniar.

Speaking to Italian broadcaster SportMediaset after the Champions League round of sixteen draw, the Nerazzurri Vice-President stated that he feels there are conditions to agree a new deal with the 27-year-old, and also talked about the draw.

Inter have been in active talks with Skriniar and his representatives for over a week, with the first serious meeting reportedly having taken place after the team beat Viktoria Plzen to reach the Champions League round of sixteen.

Extending the Slovakian’s deal is a major priority for the Nerazzurri.

For his part, Zanetti took an optimistic tone when discussing how the negotiations are progressing with the defender and his representatives.

“We’re in talks, and the conditions are there to find an agreement to move forward together,” he said of the situation.

“We hope that it can be resolved as soon as possible, everyone will be happy.”

Of drawing Porto for the Champions League round of sixteen, Zanetti called them “An high-level and tough opponent to face, I know Porto because I played alongside Sergio Conceicao who’s doing a great job there.”

“It depends on the state of form going in, but it’s a Champions League tie, we’re going into it with maximum respect for the opponents and preparing at our best.”

Asked how he thinks the team should respond to yesterday evening’s Serie A loss to Juventus, Zanetti replied “By working hard and knowing where we have to improve.”

“So far we’ve given a response in the Champions League, but we have to confirm it in the league,” he continued.

“There are two matches to go,” Zanetti noted, “and then when the league resumes it will be totally different.”

“I think we have to find balance and continuity in the league,” he went on, “I’m sorry for yesterday’s loss.”

“I think that based on the first half we could have gone in at halftime with a different scoreline,” he argued.

“But that’s football,” he noted, “Juve opened the scoring at their first real opportunity and after that it was a different match.”

“We have to work on the details,” the Vice-President argued.

And of the Champions League round of sixteen, he said that “We’re confident, progressing from this group wasn’t easy, and the team did it by showing maturity.”

“Before Porto we have to work hard to get to our best, and then play well both home and away.”