Beppe Marotta predicts Romelu Lukaku’s chances of renewing his loan from Chelsea, why Andre Onana was an Inter surprise, Paulo Dybala was right to join Roma and he’d break the bank for Erling Haaland.
The CEO spoke at an event held by La Gazzetta dello Sport today and you can read the rest of his comments here.
He was questioned on the future of the Nerazzurri and specifically what will happen with Lukaku, who is on loan from Chelsea, as it remains to be seen whether the clubs will be able to negotiate a similar deal for next season.
“I don’t know what Chelsea’s intentions are, who their coach will be… If a coach arrives who wants to rely on Lukaku, then that’ll be the end of it. He has a lot of quality and having him is a positive, but the fact remains he is not our player. We’ll see further on.”
However, when asked for a number out of 10 to define whether Lukaku would remain at Inter next season, Marotta hedged positive.
“I’d say six.”
This Inter squad is packed with high-profile free agents who proved crucial, including Onana, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Edin Dzeko, but they failed to sign Dybala, who went to Roma instead.
“Perhaps the biggest surprise was Onana. I am very fond of Dybala, he was a kid when we brought him to Juventus, but choices have to be made and we had another four strikers in the squad. I think he did well to join Roma.”
If Marotta was given a blank cheque by Inter, then who would he go for?
“There are many players, but if I had to pick one, it’d be Haaland, especially as we were so close to signing him at Juventus.”
Edin Dzeko and Alessandro Bastoni are discussing new contracts and Marotta has ‘great optimism’ they will accept the proposals.
“We have to recognise that Italy is no longer the El Dorado of football, so we must seek sustainability. We have to invent models and the first objective is to reduce costs, which is achieved by getting the best out of young players.
“Nonetheless, if we are unable to build a team capable of winning the Scudetto, then we should be sacked. The equation that whoever spends the most money will win does not work. In 2010, something incredible happened for Inter and we should remember that football is unpredictable.”