The agent of wingback Andrea Cambiaso has revealed that Inter Milan had been keen on the Italian under-21 international, but Juventus moved first.
The 23-year-old’s agent Giovanni Bia spoke to Turin-based newspaper Tuttosport in an interview published in today’s print edition, via L’Interista.
Wingback Cambiaso joined Juventus during last summer transfer window.
The under-21 Italian international had impressed with Genoa during the previous season.
This led to interest from a number of teams in Serie A.
Among these were Atalanta, Inter, and Juventus.
Given that all three of the trio play with wingbacks and rely on the wide players for a lot of attacking quality, it is little surprise that a player with Cambiaso’s profile was of interest to them.
And for Inter, there was a particular need for a wingback to be brought in,
The Nerazzurri were trying to replace Ivan Perisic. The Croat had departed to join Tottenham Hotspur on a free transfer at the end of the 2021-22 season.
Agent Of Andrea Cambiaso Reveals Inter Made Attempt Before Juventus Got Deal Done
In the end, the player who Inter signed in the wingback position was Raoul Bellanova.
The Nerazzurri brought Bellanova on a season-long loan deal from Cagliari.
Inter had the option to sign Bellanova on a permanent basis during this summer. However, they declined to activate it and Cagliari signed the young wingback instead.
But Bellanova was not the only player who had been on Inter’s radar last summer.
Like the now-Cagliari player, Cambiaso is young and Italian.
And according to the player’s agent, there was very real interest in his signature from Inter.
But it was Juventus who showed just that little bit more interest, moving in ahead of the Nerazzurri and sealing the deal for him.
“[Bianconeri executives] Cherubini and Manna believed a lot in him,” Cambiaso’s agent Bia said.
“And they spent almost €9 million to sign him from Genoa,” he noted.
Bia called that “A major investment, which made it possible for them to sign him despite the competition from Inter.”
“[Inter Sporting Director Piero] Ausilio was very keen on him,” the agent said. “But the Nerazzurri could close the deal at that moment, and so Juventus did well to move in and sign him.”