In the second installment of the series of interviews with the sporting directors of the top Serie A teams, our editor in chief Gianluca Di Marzio chatted with Inter’s Piero Ausilio. They covered numerous transfer related topics starting with
The Modric dream
“During the negotiation for Vrsaljko, his agents proposed this idea. It seemed odd to me that after losing Ronaldo, Real Madrid would also let go of a player like Ronaldo. I didn’t believe but I didn’t see why we couldn’t dream. I told them to discuss it with Real Madrid, we knew what our chances were. They were convinced they could bring him to us after he was released of his contract based on a promise made with Florentino Perez, which proved not to be true. We never made an offer to the player or the club
The Coutinho regret and pursuit of Dybala
“The biggest regret? Without a doubt Coutinho. I remember that moment very well. After his sale he went to get Icardi and Kovacic, so it didn’t go that badly. We would have kept Coutinho for twenty years, but in that moment he wasn’t playing and he wanted to leave to find more space.
Dybala? If we believe it in more, he would have been ours. That being said our offer was lower compared to Juventus, and they also played in the Champions League. Certainly a duo Icardi-Dybala would have been intriguing for everyone”
Will Mourinho return?
“I’m not surprised that he’s been linked to us after his sacking at Manchester United, we live in a time where everything is on social media. We work in a more rational manner, we aren’t effected by anything. We just look at our project and we’ll work with Spalletti for a long time”
Zaniolo and Bonucci
“Bonucci was sacrificed in a deal with Genoa for Milito and Thiago Motta. If this is the sacrifice to get trophies that arrived as a result of these two players then it’s worth it. I hope that in a few years we talk about Zaniolo in the same manner because that would mean Nainggolan brought us some trophies”
