Massimo Moratti admits Roberto Mancini “did not have a great rapport” with Inter and reveals Mario Balotelli’s problems.
The former patron sold his remaining shares to new majority owners Suning Group, while Erick Thohir remains as President and minority shareholder.
“In all honesty, I have a very good view of the new owners,” Moratti told the Corriere dello Sport.
Massimo Moratti admits Roberto Mancini “did not have a great rapport” with Inter and reveals Mario Balotelli’s problems.
The former patron sold his remaining shares to new majority owners Suning Group, while Erick Thohir remains as President and minority shareholder.
“In all honesty, I have a very good view of the new owners,” Moratti told the Corriere dello Sport.
“They are people who worked hard to build their empire. They seem to be in good faith and have authentic passion. I think they really do want to invest in the club and make it more competitive.
“As far as I can tell, they haven’t finished reinforcing the squad yet.”
There was a surprise change with just two weeks to go before the start of the season, as Mancini terminated his contract by mutual consent to make way for Frank de Boer.
“Mancini is a champion, let’s not forget that, both as a player and a Coach. He was exceptional with me in his first spell. At the start of this new experience there was a lot of expectation, hope and it kept getting higher.
“He didn’t have a great rapport with the club and the results in recent months didn’t help him. It was a rapport that was destined to end.
“De Boer impressed me, as he’s a real expert of football, focused on the details and capable of understanding deep down.”
The Coach Moratti remains most fond of is undoubtedly Jose Mourinho, who took Inter to the Treble in 2010.
“He is a great professional, reliable and has a great sense of duty. He respects the club and the owners. He is an exceptional Coach and a real person. I don’t know if this is in contrast with the image that he likes to give off, but that is the Mourinho I worked with and thanks to whom we achieved that historic result.
“The Treble was the greatest moment of my sporting life. People were weeping with joy and that will remain in the lives of many people.
“I know it’s a sport, but that too holds an important place in the history of man. You celebrate for the achievements of others, but feel as if they were your own. For me, it was the result of much suffering, hard work and struggle.
“Inter is an artistic venture, almost poetic. It is capable of provoking immense, unreachable joy and bitter disappointment. It’s never done by half-measures.
“For me, Inter is the opening to new worlds and courage. It’s a strong passion, a marvellous illness. You can put up with the weaknesses and admire the courage, the same way you would with a son.”
Mancini may have had a tense rapport with the club, but Moratti reveals he had to deal with many problems at San Siro.
“There was constant tension between Mario Balotelli and various Coaches. Then the trouble between Roberto Baggio and Marcello Lippi. I tried to get them to agree, but it was difficult…”
Balotelli is now on the Liverpool scrap heap and few clubs seem prepared to take him on. What happened?
“Balotelli is a pure talent with an innate quality, but over the last few years he has undergone a transformation. He was always quite a closed off character, reactive to circumstances. He had a difficult childhood, though the family that adopted him were fantastic.
“Over the course of time, perhaps also due to success, he exasperated that shyness into aggression. He loves to provoke others to see if they really do genuinely care for him. It’s an impossible challenge, acting like that.
“I hope he can begin again, but he needs to bring hard work and humility.”