Inter CEO Beppe Marotta: “Our Goal Is To Sign Both Paulo Dybala & Romelu Lukaku, Lautaro Martinez Indispensable To Us” | OneFootball

Inter CEO Beppe Marotta has issued updates on the Nerazzurri’s transfer window pursuits for the summer, confirming that Paulo Dybala and Romelu Lukaku are major targets.

Speaking to Italian broadcaster Radio Anch’io Lo Sport, the executive stated that the club are aiming to bring both in although he made clear that there is still work to be done on both moves, and also gave the view that replacing Lautaro Martinez would be tougher than replacing a defender.

Inter’s transfer window is now well-underway, and they are widely reported to be working on a duo of high profile signing, of Dybala on a free transfer and of Lukaku on loan from Chelsea, which would have seemed highly improbable only a couple months ago.

Regarding whether this will be a decisive week in the pursuit of the two forwards, Marotta said that “It’s difficult to give a precise answer. Signing them is our goal, but we must evaluate the financial feasibility.”

“I won’t hide the fact that we’ve thrown ourselves into chasing them though,” he went on. “Doing so would be convenient. Let’s move ahead, and if we succeed great, if not we’ll move on to other targets.”

“The single signing isn’t what matters, but rather the value of the whole team, which for us is of a very high level, apart from losing Perisic,” he continued.

Asked whether the official announcement of Lukaku’s return is imminent, Marotta replied “Absolutely not. More generally, I’ll say that our duty is to build a competitive team whilst also respective sustainability.”

“Talks and negotiations are intertwined, but a club director must explore all avenues without being afraid of not hitting the goal,” he continued. “Lukaku it is a viable pursuit but there are still some difficulties and we have to evaluate if there are the right conditions to sign him.”

The CEO stated that “We have our target, which means closing the transfer window with a profit and containing salary costs.:

“It’s also our interest to keep a strong team because it’s what the history of this club deserves,” he went on.

Marotta was clear that “We believe that Lautaro is indispensable to our aim of keeping the history of the club going.”

“It’s much more difficult to replace an attacker than an defender,” he suggested, “because the former are harder to find and cost frightening amounts.”

“Defense will probably be the position in which we’re forced to act,” he admitted, “but along with Ausilio and Baccin we’re already starting to consider quality replacements if it’s one of the defenders who has to leave.”

Marotta stated that “Bremer is a world-class player and would suit many top teams. No doubt we’re paying very close attention to him.”

Asked whether Simone Inzaghi will have signings available to him when preseason begins next month, Marotta replied “That he has new signings, yes, who they are I don’t know yet.”

“Mkhitaryan will be made official in the next few days, same goes for Onana,” he continued. “We’re considering a bit of everything, we also want to continue developing the players in our Primavera team, who are champions of Italy, there are many great talents.”

“We have an obligation to build a highly competitive team, it’s our duty,” he was clear. “When he return we will try to immediately give Inzaghi a team that is capable of being competitive.”

Asked about the circumstances which led to Wilfried Gnonto leaving Inter for Zurich FC as a youth player, Marotta said that “This is a complaint I have that’s very concrete.”

“In Italy, we definitely lack a kind of legislative concept of apprenticeship,” he explained. “Now we’ve reached the pointed where players who’ve been brought through the youth academies up to the age of sixteen can leave for clubs abroad without any remuneration.”