Inter Milan sporting director Piero Ausilio discussed several topics, including snatching the services of Lautaro Martinez from under Atletico Madrid’s nose.
The 26-year-old has now become the club’s captain and main talisman.
He continues to grow from strength to strength and currently leads the Serie A scoring charts with 14 strikes to his name.
But in 2018, the young Argentine could have easily ended up at Atletico Madrid if it wasn’t for Ausilio’s late charge.
The Inter official reveals how he overtook the Spaniards at the eleventh hour. He also describes the signing of Marcus Thuram as a fantastic operation
“I too made some mistakes, got some wrong players. We’re talking about a working group, I’m not alone, I’m lucky enough to have good and qualified people by my side,” said Ausilio during the Fortunato De Agazio Award ceremony via FcInterNews.
“My best coups? Today, it would be easy to name the ones who are now in the limelight. The Thuram operation was fantastic, from an economic point of view but also from a technical perspective. He managed to impose himself rapidly at Inter.
Inter Sporting Director Names Lautaro Martinez & Marcus Thuram As His Best Coups
“The captain, Lautaro, plays next to him. I also consider this a fantastic operation. Based on today’s figures, we paid very little for a striker of this level.
“But it was a tough negotiation. I decided to do something stranger. I boarded a flight on Friday, the player was in fact already betrothed to Atletico Madrid.
“But I decided to try my luck at the last minute. I said to myself: ‘Either I sign and I go back with the player, or we let him go’. I went to Buenos Aires for a few days. In the end, I put his signature on paper.”
On the other hand, Ausilio reveals missing out on Gleison Bremer as his biggest regret. The Nerazzurri had an agreement in principle with Torino, but the defender ended up signing for arch-rivals Juventus in the summer of 2022.
“My biggest regret? Definitely Bremer. We were certainly ahead in the negotiations. Let’s put it this way, I can’t say any more.
“Then, the resources ran out and the player received an important offer. Even though we had an advantage with both the player and Torino, we decided to drop out because the costs at that point were excessive.”
