France & Juventus Legend Michel Platini: “Inter Were The First Italian Club To Try To Sign Me” | OneFootball

Former Juventus midfielder Michel Platini has revealed that Inter were the first Italian club to make an approach to sign him before he eventually joined the Bianconeri.

The Frenchman joined Juventus from Saint-Etienne in 1982 and went on to score 103 goals in 222 appearances for the club, as well as lifting the Ballon d’Or in three consecutive years from 1983 to 1985.

In an interview in today’s print edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport, Platini insisted that he held no resentment towards Inter despite his illustrious career with Juventus, before revealing how close he came to joining the Nerazzurri upon leaving French football.

“I could never see Inter as an enemy and in fact they were the first team in Serie A who wanted me,” the 65-year-old claimed.

“I picked up an injury and they thought that I was finished as a player, so Juventus came in for me instead.”

Platini claimed that many of his main rivalries came from elsewhere in Serie A, but that Inter were a constant thorn in the side of Juventus as they battled for supremacy at the top of the table.

“I challenged against the likes of Roma with Falcao and Toninho Cerezo, whilst there was also Hellas Verona with [Preben] Elkjaer and [Roberto] Tricella, and also Napoli with Diego Maradona.

“Inter had a great talent who always caused problems too though, in [Alessandro] Altobelli.”

Platini was a key figure as Juventus won the Serie A title in 1984 and 1986, as well as the European Cup in 1985.