Inter director Beppe Marotta admits the Nerazzurri only took a few hours to replace Antonio Conte with Simone Inzaghi and insists he doesn’t feel betrayed by the Tottenham coach.

Marotta spoke to the media after an event organized at the headquarters of Regione Lombardia in Milan.

The Nerazzurri have qualified for the Champions League last 16 for the first time in ten years and are four points off Serie A leaders Napoli.

Is he surprised by Simone Inzaghi’s impact at the club?

“Not really because he has the human qualities an Inter coach needs. I knew him and we chose him in a few hours to replace [Antonio] Conte,” Marotta said, as quoted by Calciomercato.com.

“Inzaghi’s name was one of those on our agenda and we anticipated his possible extension with Lazio. Had he signed a new deal, it would have been more complicated to get him.

“We wanted an Italian coach because we have different characteristics from other clubs.”

Conte left the Nerazzurri by mutual agreement after two seasons, but Marotta doesn’t feel betrayed by the Tottenham coach.

“That’s what football is about, there are some sudden changes and we must recognize that Conte has brought some values to the club,” he said.

Why was the coach given severance pay?

“That’s the past,” said Marotta. “We want to focus on the present and the future.”

President Steven Zhang is not too often in Milan, is it a problem for him and the club’s directors?

“English clubs have owners who don’t live the clubs day by day,” analysed Marotta.

“Owners must give solidity and security. We must forget what the family Zhang has done until now, Steven in particular.

“They’ve invested hundreds of millions in the club and the global crisis has hit them too. They cover us, but we can’t put into practice the model that we had in mind, we need to look at different models and how to sell and replace some footballers.

“It’s not fair for owners to invest so much money because costs and incomes are not balanced.”

Does it mean Inter will sell more players in the summer?

“The Italian model has remained the same for many years and other European clubs have overtaken us,” Marotta reckoned.

“We have to reconsider the balance between expenses and incomes and reduce working costs.”

One thought on “Marotta: ‘Inter replaced Conte with Inzaghi in a few hours’”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Tickets Kit Collector