Marotta: ‘Lukaku and Hakimi asked to leave Inter’

Beppe Marotta confirmed that both Romelu Lukaku and Achraf Hakimi made it clear that they wanted to leave Inter last summer.

The pair were sold by the Nerazzurri in last summer’s transfer window, which also led to the departure of coach Antonio Conte. Many Inter fans were concerned about the club’s future but Simone Inzaghi has done a good job keeping the team competitive this season, guiding them to the Coppa Italia final, the Champions League knock out stages and keeping them keenly involved in the title race.

Speaking at the Il Foglio event at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Marotta discussed last summer’s transfer window and Inter’s ability to remain competitive.

“The equation ‘the more you spend, the more you win’ is not always valid. There has been a strong shock, with the departure of the Scudetto winning coach and important players.

“In addition to the unlucky Eriksen, Lukaku and Hakimi had expressed the desire to leave and gain experience in other leagues, but we had the solidity of the ownership behind us and the fact that through those deals we had guaranteed the sustainability of the club.

“Then we tried to build a competitive team and to instil a winning mentality and I would say that we were lucky to choose a young coach like Inzaghi who is fully responding to what we asked for.

“We’re happy with this year’s results, hoping for the cherry on top. We owe this to the culture of work, the competence of the structures and the solidity of the club.”

Despite yesterday’s slip up against Bologna, Inter are still involved in a tight title race with intercity rivals Milan, sitting two points behind. Their remaining four games are a little more forgiving than their counterparts, giving them hope despite losing to the Rossoblu yesterday.

Marotta torna sulla rivoluzione estiva: "Lukaku e Hakimi chiesero di andare via. Felici di Inzaghi" https://t.co/bN9LK5AH4L

— TUTTOmercatoWEB (@TuttoMercatoWeb) April 28, 2022