Inter director Beppe Marotta insists it is ‘not true’ that Gianluca Scamacca rejected them for Atalanta this summer, while praising captain Lautaro Martinez.
It kicks off at the Gewiss Stadium in Bergamo at 17.00 GMT.
This is a showdown for position, as La Dea went into the weekend in fourth place and the Nerazzurri are top of the table.
“We want to see consistency in our performances and results, but it is early days and the tight status in the top spots shows the strength of the various teams, including Atalanta,” Marotta told DAZN.
This is a face-to-face with Scamacca, who had been seemingly on the verge of a move to Inter this summer from West Ham United before he opted for Atalanta instead.
“We asked around and looked at various profiles, including Scamacca, to build an attacking unit with four elements of real quality for a packed fixture list.
“We withdrew because there were not the right conditions to proceed. When people say that Scamacca chose Atalanta and rejected Inter, that is not true, because by the time Atalanta opened up their negotiations, we had already taken a step back.
“So we have absolutely no problem with his decision and we went to look at other profiles.”
Lautaro Martinez attended the Ballon d’Or ceremony in Paris this week and was asked about Real Madrid, but responded that his mind was only on Inter.
“He is a real professional and has understood that Inter can give him the guarantees of professional growth,” added Marotta.
“Now he is the captain of the team too and that is a great honour. We hope he can remain for a long time. You can never predict the future, but he expressed his desire to remain very clearly.”
The Nerazzurri are reported to be discussing a new contract extension that would take Lautaro Martinez’s wages to almost €10m per season.
“Everything takes time and we hope to announce the extension of the contract.”
There have also been suggestions that Inter are ready to pounce for Piotr Zielinski as a free agent from Napoli, although Juventus and Maurizio Sarri’s Lazio provide competition.
“When people talk about talented free agents like Zielinski, names are often linked with a club like ours. However, so far there has been no approach. We are monitoring the market and will see if there are any opportunities.”