The father of Udinese midfielder Lazar Samardzic has given his side of the story on the soap opera that saw the 21-year-old’s move to Inter Milan fall through.
Speaking to Italian broadcaster SportItalia, Samardzic’s father and agent Mladen gave a timeline of the events from his perspective.
One thing that is clear is that German-born Serbia international Samardzic won’t be joining Inter this summer.
It had looked as though he certainly would. The player event underwent his medicals ahead of the move.
However, things collapsed at the eleventh hour. Inter pulled the plug after unexpected financial demands from the player’s entourage.
SempreInter exclusively revealed that Inter were aware of possible issues behind the scenes. However, they tried to go through with the move anyway.
There have been plenty of rumours regarding the details of what caused the impasse between Inter and Samardzic’s representatives.
The situation is a convoluted one. But now, the player’s father and agent has revealed why the transfer collapsed, from his perspective.
Father Of Lazar Samardzic Explains Backstory Behind Failed Inter Transfer
According to Mladen Samardzic, it’s relatively simple.
“Inter completed all the negotiations and closed the deal with a person who didn’t have any permission to do so.”
He is referring to prominent football agent Rafaela Pimenta.
“Yes, her,” he said when asked if that’s who he was referring to. “But I’ve only met her once in my life.”
“I don’t know how she managed to get involved in this, because the negotiation was between Udinese and Inter,” Mladen Samardzic claimed.
“And then all of a sudden she’s in the middle of it, trying to close the deal without our permission.”
“So when I received the draft of a contract from Inter, and we saw that she was included as intermediary and representative of Lazar, we asked for it to be changed,” he continued.
Mladen continued that “We then asked to speak directly with Inter. We wanted to have a meeting with them and to change that part.”
“But they obviously didn’t want to sign him anymore, so they claimed that she was Lazar’s agent.”
“Inter Milan Didn’t Answer Phone Calls”
The father of Lazar Samardzic also addressed rumours that Inter declined to answer his phone calls during the transfer saga.
“Of course we called them,” he said.
“We also emailed them.”
“But no answer, because everything was over for Inter because, they only wanted to deal with Pimenta.”
He suggested that “They had closed the deal with her, but not with us.”
Mladen noted that, from his perspective, “She had no permission from us.”
“She wrapped up the agreement because obviously she represents a lot of players, she has a good relationship with the club.”
“But with us there was no agreement,” he said of Pimenta. “Nor was there any authorization.”
Backstory Of Fateful Meeting Between Inter & Samardzic Entourage
Asked if he ever met with Inter CEO Beppe Marotta and Sporting Director Piero Ausilio, Mladen Samardzic replied “Yes, we met on that Friday [August 11] in Milano, and I explained everything to them.”
“I explained to them that we had never given Pimenta permission to speak on Lazar’s behalf,” he continued.
“But they didn’t want to hear it, they were angry because as far as they were concerned Pimenta was his agent,” Mladen claimed.
“But you can check it everywhere, just look it up on the internet, Pimenta was never my son’s agent.”
“That’s all the ‘breakdown in communications’ came down to,” Mladen Samardzic said. “Otherwise, my son wanted to join Inter, Udinese wanted to sell him, Inter wanted to sign him.”
“Everything was ready to go, if it hadn’t been for that, shall we say, ‘breakdown in communications.'”
Mladen Samardzic Claims No Extra Financial Demands Were Made To Inter
Many of the reports and rumours around the whole soap opera have concerned apparent financial demands that Samardzic’s representatives made to Inter at the eleventh hour.
These have included reports of a request for an additional agent commission of €300,000.
There have also been suggestions that Samardzic’s entourage tried to get the Nerazzurri to increase Samardzic’s wages – after he had already undergone his medicals. Or even that they asked for a sell-on fee to be tacked on to the deal.
But the Serb’s father denies all of this.
“Look, we never talked about money with Inter,” he said.
“We never negotiated anything,” he elaborated. “We never had the opportunity, because the moment I explained that Pimenta wasn’t his agent, Inter automatically shut everything down.”
“They were no longer interested because, and we don’t have any idea why, they thought that Pimenta was his agent,” Mladen claimed.
“I told them, “I’m sorry, but this is a mistake. If you have proof of any of this, ok. But since you don’t have any proof this isn’t our fault!'”
Mladen added, “I’m sorry, but we just made clear that we wanted the move to Inter. We never talked about money.”
“No Regrets”
Asked if he has any regrets about how the negotiations went or feels there was anything he could have done better, Mladen replied “Nothing.”
“Since we didn’t have the opportunity to do anything, what mistake could we have made? I don’t know.”
He went on that “I asked Mr. Ausilio where I went wrong, for him to tell me.”
“And he replied that he didn’t know who the player’s agent was.”
“So I replied, ‘It’s not my fault, you could have asked.'”
“And at that point I was the one who said, ‘We want to see the contract, we want to see the offer in a written email and not just over the phone. We want to see his wages, bonuses, everything.'”
“And instead we didn’t see anything written, there were no documents,” Mladen claimed.
“Because they had sent everything to Rafaela Pimenta. In that, they made a mistake.”
“The first time I sat down at the Inter headquarters, I said to Mr. Ausilio, ‘Look, I I have yet to see any contracts so far, no offers, nothing.'”
“So he printed it out for me in that meeting, and I told him, “This is the first time I’m seeing these numbers!'”
“And after that, it was all over,” Mladen said. “He said that there was nothing more for us to discuss.”
Samardzic’s father also claimed that in that meeting, “He said that Inter have 150 years of history, that they reached the Champions League Final.”
“And I replied ‘Sure, that’s all true. But there’s been a breakdown in communications here!'”
Mladen Samardzic Unsure Of Why Transfer To Inter Milan Fell Through
As for why Lazar Samardzic’s move to Inter collapsed even after the player underwent medicals, the 21-year-old’s father and agent said that “I don’t know. I really don’t.”
“I don’t have any experience in this business,” he went on. “I’m just a father who wants the best for his son.”
“He currently plays in Udine, because he loves football,” Mladen said.
“He certainly always wants to improve and wants to play for a club in the Champions League one day.”
“But that’s only possible if he improves, if he gets better and better with Udinese.”
Mladen claims that “We don’t care about the money. If that’s what we wanted, we could have gone to Saudi Arabia.”
He said that “We want a career for him, and Inter was certainly an ideal situation for him.”
“But honestly, the deal just wasn’t possible. Maybe it will happen with another club next time.”
Mladen said that “We have nothing to regret, because I couldn’t have done anything else since Inter didn’t want to talk to us.”
“I said the same thing to Mr. Pozzo, in Udine, who understood the situation.”
“This is the whole truth,” Mladen Samardzic claimed. “And then of course the journalists, who have close ties to Inter, will only ever give one version of it. But that’s not the truth.”
“It doesn’t matter,” he went on. “My son is very happy in Udine, and if we stay here, we’ll make him happy, there’s no problem.”
No Inter Move For Lazar Samardzic Means Udinese Stay Possible
According to Samardzic’s father, there would be no problem with the player remaining at Udinese.
“We have an excellent relationship with Udinese,” he said. “With Mr. Pozzo, with the [former Udinese CEO Franco] Collavino, and with the new director [Federico] Balzaretti.”
Mladfen said that “We’re all working together for the future, and if Udinese tell us that they’ve received an offer that they deem to be sufficient, then we can discuss it with my son.”
“If Udinese say yes and we say yes, it will be the right decision to make,” he said of a possible transfer. “But it’s not necessary for him to leave this season.”
“He has three years left on his contracts. There’s a whole future ahead of him if he wants to join different clubs.”
Mladen said that “When we find a perfect situation for all parties involved, for the club and for us, let’s see.”
Mladen Samardzic Denies Other Clubs Torpedoed Inter Move For Lazar Samardzic
Samardzic’s father also addressed some rumours floating around that another club could have sabotaged the midfielder’s move to Inter.
“There’s no truth to any of that,” he said.
He added that “We’re in no hurry for the future – Lazar is only 21, there’s plenty of time.”
“He already came off the bench against Juve and did well,” Mladen noted.
“He’s a mature young man. He has a good head on his shoulders. He doesn’t want to let the Udinese fans down, or the club that brought him to Italy and have allowed him to grow here.”
“That’s also why it’s important for me to talk,” Mladen suggested.
“Because the big clubs have powerful channels of communication, but we don’t.”
“A false narrative about what happened [in Samardzic’s failed transfer to Inter] can damage our reputation, and we can’t allow that to become part of the public opinion.”