Sky Sport Italia report that Inter are no longer confident of securing Cesar Azpilicueta as a free agent from Chelsea, as his family wants a return to Spain for Atletico Madrid.
It was this same source that had stated just last week that the Nerazzurri had agreed personal terms with the veteran defender, who will be allowed to leave Chelsea for free with an early contract termination.
However, now transfer pundit Fabrizio Romano – who works for Sky Sport Italia – insists Atletico Madrid have dived in with their own proposal and talks are at an advanced stage there too.
The big difference is that Azpilicueta’s family is eager for a return to Spain after 11 years in London and before that another two years at Olympique Marseille.
He turns 34 in August and was going to be used primarily as a centre-back in the three-man defence by Inter.
That no longer seems to be the case, with Atletico Madrid making a convincing argument and Inter seemingly giving up.