Former Inter striker Julio Cruz has revealed that he had the opportunity to leave the club for Napoli, but was prevented by ex-Nerazzurri president Massimo Moratti.
Inter are set to face Napoli at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in Serie A on Wednesday, and Cruz recalled his time at the club, from 2003 until 2009, and how the opportunity to move was blocked by Moratti, in an interview with CalcioNapoli24.it yesterday.
The former Argentina international was full of praise for Moratti though, whilst also admitting that current Napoli coach Luciano Spalletti had tried to sign him at both Roma and Zenit St. Petersburg.
“My agent, Jorge Cysterpiller, told me many times that he wanted to take me to Napoli, but president Massimo Moratti never wanted to let me go,” the 48-year-old revealed.
“He’s a president I cannot say anything against; he was more than a president, he invested time and money for many years, winning with a great team.
“Luciano Spalletti also wanted me several times, at Roma and Zenit St. Petersburg, but Moratti didn’t want me to leave and in those years we made history with Inter.”
Cruz represented Inter at a time when the Nerazzurri were blessed with an embarrassment of attacking riches, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Adriano, Obafemi Martins, Alvaro Recoba, and Hernan Crespo.
The ex-River Plate player admitted that it was difficult to break into the team with so many strikers vying for a starting spot, but that he carried out his task when called upon.
“We were seven strikers competing for two places, it was difficult to have playing time. When I had a chance at Inter, I did what I had to do, which was to score goals.
“I experienced so much joy with the Inter fans; I arrived at a difficult time for Inter and the following year we managed to win. From there I won a lot with that shirt,” he added.
Cruz scored 75 goals in 196 appearances for Inter after joining from Bologna, helping them to win four Serie A titles and the Coppa Italia twice, before moving on to Lazio.
