Xherdan Shaqiri explains why he chose Inter, welcomes a Wolfsburg clash and prepares to take on Napoli.
The former Bayern Munich talent has been the most impressive January signing at San Siro and is expected to start against Napoli tomorrow night.
“If I think that I started out in a small town in Kosovo, then my story does feel like a fairytale,” he told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
Xherdan Shaqiri explains why he chose Inter, welcomes a Wolfsburg clash and prepares to take on Napoli.
The former Bayern Munich talent has been the most impressive January signing at San Siro and is expected to start against Napoli tomorrow night.
“If I think that I started out in a small town in Kosovo, then my story does feel like a fairytale,” he told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“At the end of the day, I still consider all this as only the start of a long career. I’ve triumphed in every team I played for, so I want to do the same here at Inter. It’s a fairytale, but a true story too.”
Shaqiri had been heavily linked with Liverpool and Arsenal over the transfer window, but opted for the Nerazzurri.
“I don’t know how long exactly, but Inter had been in contact with my agents and my brother Erdin for a while. It started ages ago, because the club knew me and I got the feeling I was always in their sights.
“The phone calls then arrived from Mancini. We had two good chats that I immediately considered to be very important.
“At my age what interests me the most is playing football, which lately hadn’t happened much at Bayern. Mancini explained I’d be on the pitch a lot, outlined his philosophy and that of the club, taking Inter back to its glorious past. So here I am.
“When I arrived at the airport, the Inter fans really fired me up that night. I can tell them one thing, that they’ve got a player who will give everything. We want to take Inter back to where they belong.”
Shaqiri goes against the grain and is happy Inter picked Bundesliga breakout stars Wolfsburg in the Europa League Round of 16.
“Realistically, at this stage of the season our only target is to win the Europa League. It won’t be easy, because there’s strong competition.
“I am very happy we got Wolfsburg, because strong teams like to face up to each other. When I was in the Bundesliga, I did very well against them with goals and assists.
“They are in good shape and technically gifted, but if we eliminate Wolfsburg, then we can go on to win the Europa League.”
There is also city pride to play for with the Derby della Madonnina in April.
“I’ve heard so much about this game and winning would be a wonderful sensation. What would I give to score the decisive goal? I don’t know, I’d prefer to take three points with a goal scored by someone else than to find the net and not win.”
Meanwhile, Inter visit Napoli on Sunday evening and are still looking for their first victory of the season against a ‘big’ club.
“Winning at Napoli is not easy, but getting three points here would be important psychologically too. We must play well and try to grow, as we’ve got everything it takes to win.”
Shaqiri is settling in well at Inter and reveals his time in Switzerland proved important, as they are just across the border.
“I know around a hundred Italian words, because when I lived near Basel there were so many Italians around there.
“Which nickname do I prefer? Shaq is fine. I celebrate with my arms crossed like Aladdin’s Genie of the Lamp.”
His family moved to Switzerland to escape the war in 1992, but would he represent Kosovo if FIFA recognised their status as a national team?
“It’s not right to think about this now because there are no definitive decisions. I do hope Kosovo are recognised by FIFA, but at the same time I am happy with Switzerland and we’ve done great things together.”
Shaqiri also discussed his off the field pleasures, such as collecting watches and needing to call his mother after every game, while his favourite film is Wolf of Wall Street (only partly because of Margot Robbie).
“Before making it as a footballer, I used to work in a menswear store. I probably would’ve carried on that path if I weren’t a player. I do follow fashion, so living in Milan is ideal for that.”