Inter director Piero Ausilio confirmed interest in Stevan Jovetic, Ivan Perisic and Mohamed Salah, but not Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
The director of sport spoke to Inter Channel, the official television station of the club, after a busy summer where he already brought in Geoffrey Kondogbia, Joao Miranda, Jeison Murillo and Martin Montoya.
“I expected this enthusiasm from the fans, because I know how warm they can be,” said Ausilio after their first pre-season friendly.
Inter director Piero Ausilio confirmed interest in Stevan Jovetic, Ivan Perisic and Mohamed Salah, but not Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
The director of sport spoke to Inter Channel, the official television station of the club, after a busy summer where he already brought in Geoffrey Kondogbia, Joao Miranda, Jeison Murillo and Martin Montoya.
“I expected this enthusiasm from the fans, because I know how warm they can be,” said Ausilio after their first pre-season friendly.
“We are trying to do everything we can and are just at the start of the transfer market, so the objective was to give the Coach a good number of players to work with.
“We chose figures who were functional to his needs. Miranda does not need presentations, Montoya arrives from Barcelona and we rediscovered Jonathan Biabiany.
“We’re still missing something in attack, but will try to do something good there too. The priority is a striker and we need to get someone at the Coach’s disposal as soon as possible. We’ve got the ideal player in mind, are working on a couple of ideas, but these are all under contract with other clubs.
“It’ll take a bit of work, but if we do it in time then the Coach can take this player on the pre-season tour of China. If it’s not possible, the most important thing is to be ready for the start of the Serie A season on August 22.”
Ausilio was asked about the top names Inter are working on: Jovetic of Manchester City, Wolfsburg’s Perisic and Salah.
“Those are the names, yes. For Salah we’re waiting at the window to see what the situation really is. There’s been so much talk, but we’re not interested in chatter. We want to figure out who could be the best player to take to Inter.”
Salah rejected an extended loan at Fiorentina and returned to pre-season training with Chelsea, fuelling threats of legal action from the Viola.
Coach Roberto Mancini also commented on the situation yesterday. “I joked when I said we don’t know who Salah belongs to, but it’s actually true. We have to wait and see what’s going on, but meanwhile we haven’t spoken to him.”
The Corriere dello Sport is adamant Inter are battling city rivals Milan for Paris Saint-Germain star Ibrahimovic.
“Ibrahimovic doesn’t need to be presented and is technically beyond dispute, but this is not a situation that is compatible on an economic level or within our plans,” added Ausilio.
“We will always remember him as one of the greats who made history with Inter, but I don’t think there’s any possibility for him to soon be part of the Nerazzurri project.”