Serie B Sporting Director Touted To Replace Roberto Samaden As Head Of Inter Milan Youth Academy

Current Siena Sporting Diretor Massimo Tarantino is set to replace Roberto Samaden as the head of Inter’s youth academy.

This according to Italian broadcaster SportItalia, who report that the 51-year-old former defender, who played for the likes of Bologna and Napoli during his playing career, will be appointed ahead of SPAL Academy Manager Andrea Catellani who had also been a candidate for the role.

Samaden is set to step down from his role as head of Inter’s youth academy at the end of the season, ending an association with the Nerazzurri that lasted a total of 33 years.

It has been reported that all of Inter President Steven Zhang, CEO Beppe Marotta, and Sporting Director Piero Ausilio made attempts to convince Samaden to stay on in the role, but to no avail as the 57-year-old has made up his mind to try a new adventure, and he will leave when his contract expires at the end of June.

Nothing is certain yet regarding Samaden’s next step, although the current Inter director has been linked with a role within the Italian FA.

Meanwhile, the likes of Parma among other clubs in Serie B have been reported to have an interest in appointing Samaden starting this summer.

In any event, Inter have been studying a number of possible candidates to take the place of Samaden at the end of the season.

These have included the right-hand man of Leonardo at Paris Saint-Germain Angelo Castelazzi, Atalanta Academy Director Maurizio Costanzi, Sassuolo Academy Manager Francesco Palmieri, and the aforementioned Catellani.

The former SPAL academy manager had been reported to be the favourite to take on the role for some time, but according to SportItalia it will instead be a former executive with the Emilian club who replaces Samaden.

Tarantino had held the role of Technical Director at SPAL until the end of June 2022, and then took on the role of Sporting Director at Siena in January of this year.

However, the 51-year-old’s time at Siena is already set to come to an end, as he will make the switch to Inter to become the new head of the youth academy.

Tarantino had also been the Academy Manager at Roma from 2013 until 2019, and prior to that held the same title at Bologna from 2010 until 2013.