Inter director Beppe Marotta has a warning about the Saudi Pro League ‘altering’ the football ecosystem with their spending, but insists Marcelo Brozovic ‘decides’ on the Al-Nassr move.
The Italian transfer window opens tomorrow and the various chiefs flocked to the centre in Rimini where the paperwork will be deposited this summer.
There were some talks on the stage this evening to open up the formal negotiations and inevitably Marotta was asked about the offer Al-Nassr made for Brozovic.
“The phenomenon of Arabian football has exploded suddenly and what is happening today on the transfer market risks altering the competitivity of the football ecosystem,” said Marotta at the event this evening.
“We must be wary of this ease with which the Saudi Pro League clubs can spend money.”
Brozovic had seemed to be resistant to the idea of joining Al-Nassr until the salary package was increased to a reported €100m over three years between wages and signing-on fee.
“Clearly, this offer arrived… I can say that it is not the club that decides ultimately, but always the player.”
The situation is now in stasis, as it is reported that Al-Nassr changed their original €23m bid for Brozovic to just €13m plus €2m in bonuses.
That leaves Barcelona still in the running and risks seeing the whole deal collapse.
This in turn would stall Inter’s pursuit of Sassuolo midfielder Davide Frattesi and Marotta joked about negotiations with Giovanni Carnevali.
“It’s not easy, because Giovanni is very good at these things. He hasn’t yet received all the proposals, so Frattesi’s price-tag keeps rising.”