Inter Milan CEO Admits: ‘We Called Max Allegri, But We’re Happy With Simone Inzaghi’

Beppe Marotta doesn’t hide that Inter Milan called Max Allegri before eventually hiring Simone Inzaghi as coach.

The Nerazzurri CEO spoke to Italian broadcaster Sky Sport Italia, via FCInterNews, ahead of this evening’s Serie A clash with Monza. The executive also stressed that the rivalry with Juventus has to be a motivation.

This season Inter find themselves in a direct title race with Juventus.

This also means that Nerazzurri coach Inzaghi and his Bianconeri counterpart Allegri are real rivals.

The contrasting styles and personalities of the two coaches are under the microscope.

And it could have all been very different.

Inter had reportedly considered Allegri as a candidate to replace Antonio Conte when the latter left in 2021. And Juventus had been persistently linked with Inzaghi well before he joined the Nerazzurri.

But in the end, things have fallen into place the way that they have.

Inter CEO Marotta doesn’t hide that Allegri had been on Inter’s radar. But he’s in no way unhappy with the way that things have ended up.

Marotta: Inter Contacted Allegri, But Happy With Inzaghi

Marotta admitted that “When a coach leaves, we contact coaches who are free.”

“We called him because he was free,” he said of Allegri. “As was Inzaghi.”

“And now we’re happy and proud of the choice we made, with all due respect to Allegri.”

As far as the title race against Juventus this season, Marotta said that “It has to be motivation for us.”

“The pundits and journalist all talk about the head-to-head match on February 4,” he noted.

“But we can also slip up in the smaller matches against the provincial teams.”

“I don’t think that Inter against Juve will be decisive for how the title race ends up.”

As far as Inter’s pursuit of Napoli midfielder Piotr Zielinski, Marotta was coy.

“The transfer market is always active,” the Inter executive said.

“Ausilio, Baccin, all of us, are attentive to every opportunity.”

“From the beginning of January we can start to contact players who are coming to the end of their contracts,” he noted.

“We want to, but there’s still a long way to go before we can say there’s an agreement.”

And as far as whether Inter will try to sign a striker in January, Marotta stressed that “We have the most prolific attack in the league with 48 goals.”

“The whole team contributes to the attack,” he continued.

“The structure of the attack guarantees that for the rest of the season. We have a top-class attack.”