Inter President Steven Zhang had wanted to sign Paulo Dybala on a free transfer this summer, but coach Simone Inzaghi asked the club to sign Romelu Lukaku instead.
This according to Italian news outlet Calciomercato.com, who claim that it had been the coach’s insistence that Lukaku’s characteristics were the better fit for the team than Dybala’s which led the Nerazzurri to prioritize bringing the Belgian back on loan from Chelsea.
Inter were involved in prominent transfer sagas with both Lukaku and Dybala during the summer, but only the former ended up signing.
It had been reported that once Lukaku was signed to reinforce the attack, the Nerazzurri’s interest in signing Dybala cooled significantly, as there were by that point already four senior forwards in the squad.
According to Calciomercato, Dybala had been the dream target for Zhang, once the Argentine became available on a free transfer from Serie A rivals Juventus.
However, the report claims, Nerazzurri coach Inzaghi felt that as far as the attacking style of play that he wanted to institute in the team, Lukaku would be the better fit.
In the end, the coach got what he wanted, as Lukaku made a high-profile return to Inter just one season after making a massive money move to Chelsea.
According to Calciomercato, however, the club’s President Zhang had always seen Dybala as the preferable target of the two.
