Inter sporting director Piero Ausilio spoke in length with Tuttosport on all things Inter. Firstly, he spoke on Inter’s summer mercato.
“Spalletti wanted twenty players plus three goalkeepers and if he is quiet, I trust that he is happy.
“We signed three players from the Serie A that are all doing very well, for the three who arrived from abroad we know it takes time. Yann Karamoh is young, Joao Cancelo had an injury that kept him out for 45 days and I think of a path similar to that of Emerson Palmieri for Dalbert.”
Ausilio then spoke on the three additions from Serie A.
“There was a lot of scouting done on Milan Skrniar. We never thought of him as an alternative. For us, Skriniar was immediately the starter to be partnered with Miranda. Borja Valero was Spalletti’s first request. Borja Valero is the player who is always present when a teammate needs a hand. Finally Matias Vecino; the 24 million clause has helped us, because after the transfers of Federico Bernardeschi and Borja Valero, I do not think Fiorentina would have otherwise sold him. Spalletti is helping him grow, if he was a good player in Florence, he will become a top player at Inter. ”
Ausilio then spoke on Luciano Spalletti and some of the manager’s best attributes.
“He felt comfortable and made an important contribution to improve some aspects of daily life in Appiano from the off, he is attentive to the care of the detail,” he started out saying.
“For example he is a land connoisseur and is therefore very careful about the grass cutting and how the fields must be marked prior to the workouts. In addition he insisted on improving the aspect of nutrition, so much so that for twenty days we have had a dietitian working closely with chefs and medical staff.
He is giving a precise mentality to the players, he wants them to dominate the opponent but to not lose sight of the game plan and the qualities of the opponents, because you can not have the same attitude against Rome and against Napoli. He has won the players over with his belief: they all run and work for each other.”
Ausilio then recalled the incident in pre-season wherein a fan began to abuse defender Andrea Ranocchia but Spalletti was quick to go over and defend his player.
Spalletti is the commander of his troops, remember what happened in Brunico with the fan and Ranocchia? Spalletti immediately put the fan in line, sending a message to everyone: these are my boys and I will stand up for them. You will not find an interview where he does not defend some of your players: for him they are really the best in the world, so much so that he does not want anyone to be sold in January.”
Ausilio concluded the segment of the interview on Spalletti by comparing with triplete winning coach Jose Mourinho and if a renewal will come for Spalletti in January.
“I see similarities between him and Mourinho, with regard to their desire to always raise the bar, talk to everyone at the club, achieve more and keep everyone as focused as possible.
With Spalletti we agreed two years with no clauses attached. We’re happy together and when things are like this, thinking about how long we’ll go on for is the last thing on our minds.. We consider Spalletti a real treasure, fundamental to the present and future projects of Inter.”
Ausilio then discussed his relationship with Walter Sabatini.
“We found a balance and the beautiful thing is that we share a similar view of football. The majority of players I like, he likes and vice versa. When I brought up Skriniar and Dalbert, he told me to sign them right away. His experience helps me improve. Last summer I saw him more than my wife [laughs].”
Jiangsu Suning’s Ramires has been linked with a January move but Ausilio was quick to downplay reports when asked.
“We won’t discuss him as a player, but it’s up to the club and not me to decide what’s best for Inter. Either way, we already have five, very good midfielders.”
He also spoke further on the January mercato itself insisting that, “I want to be clear, because it’s not right to deceive the fans, but we can’t make signings that don’t fit in with our finances. We can not go on the market and spend 30-40 million: this goes for any potential signing.”
Reports have suggested that a number of renewals are in the pipeline and Ausilio spoke on the current situation.
“We’re working on Handanovic’s, and I think we’ll finalise it soon. Miranda? He has a contract until 2019, there’s no hurry. Icardi’s €110m clause? We’re not afraid about losing Icardi. We’re happy with him and he is with us. If Icardi wanted to leave or we wanted to sell him, even if his clause was €150m, it wouldn’t change the situation much.”
