Samir Handanovic says it didn’t take long for him and Udinese” data-scaytid=”3″>Udinese to accept an offer from Italian giants Inter.
“I didn't need to give it much thought,” he stated at his official unveiling. “I had an agreement with the club that when the right offer came in I could leave. And it did.
Samir Handanovic says it didn’t take long for him and Udinese to accept an offer from Italian giants Inter.
“I didn't need to give it much thought,” he stated at his official unveiling. “I had an agreement with the club that when the right offer came in I could leave. And it did.
“Maybe I could have left Udine earlier, but we were getting good results and I was happy to stay there. I didn't feel I needed anything else.
“Inter are the top club I wanted. I’ve always worked hard to get to a top club like Inter, a top club where you can win things.
“I'm 28 now and I'm still at the right age for a change. I have changed and I'm happy.”
The swoop for Handanovic is somewhat controversial given that he will replace Julio Cesar, a player who, despite having two years left on his contract, has been told that he is no longer wanted.
“I respect and admire Julio Cesar a lot,” the Slovenian noted. “I think he's a great ‘keeper, but this has got nothing to do with me. Besides, that's the way football goes.
“When he joined Inter, Francesco Toldo was here, and before Toldo there were other ‘keepers, Alberto Fontana, Angelo Peruzzi, Gianluca Pagliuca and so on going back.
“All I can say is that I'll be putting everything I have into it, all my professionalism. I'm starting from scratch here – I'm not looking at who was here before me or what they did.”
Turning to on-field matters, Handanovic insisted that he would feel comfortable with whatever system boss Andrea Stramaccioni opted to employ.
“The main thing is getting to know your teammates, knowing how they move, how they play – that's more important than whether you play with three or four defenders in front of you.”
The No 1 also spoke about his idols. “I've always admired Peter Schmeichel and Gigi Buffon too. For 10 years he was phenomenal, unlike anyone else.”