Beppe Marotta reveals how he was approached by Inter after leaving Juventus, discusses Marcus Thuram, Gianluca Scamacca and Andre Onana negotiations. ‘Onana was a very successful deal with Manchester United.’
The CEO was speaking at the Gazzetta dello Sport Festival about his career, which saw him lead the run of consecutive Juventus Serie A titles, then move to Inter and start a new era there.
“An era was coming to an end at Juventus, which happens. After the announcement I made, I received a text message from Steven Zhang, but I had not saved his number on my phone, so I wasn’t entirely sure it was really him,” said Marotta.
“I called (Torino President) Urbano Cairo, who is a friend of Zhang’s, to ask for confirmation and from there we held a meeting that was very positive. The Zhang family is very supportive and above all is ready to delegate, which is fundamental in sport. They gave us carte blanche.”
While acting as CEO of Inter, Marotta has overseen some extraordinarily profitable transfer deals, including several over the summer.
“I remember selling Mauro Icardi for €50m to PSG at a time when he had lost a bit of his appeal.”
Onana was picked up as a free agent and a year later sold to Manchester United for €52.5m plus another €5m in performance-related bonuses.
The goalkeeper has struggled so far at Old Trafford, so could he return to Inter one day?
“Anything can happen in football, even if those who return do not always have positive results. It was an important experience for him and for us. It was also a very successful deal for us to get him for free and sell him for all that money.”
Inter picked up another free agent this summer, Thuram, who had been on the verge of coming to San Siro for their city rivals Milan.
“Thuram decided to come to us, even though he had other offers. He pondered what the best club could be for him and I think his father also had an influence.”
When it came to Scamacca, the Italy international opted for Atalanta when leaving West Ham United.
“We started negotiations and he seemed ready to join, then Atalanta came along, and he considered that a more suitable club for his growth process. We respected that choice.”