Goalkeeper Samir Handanovic has said farewell to Inter shortly after the club confirmed that he would be released this summer. The veteran keeper failed to agree a contract extension with the Nerazzurri, leaving him a free agent. Writing on Instagram, the 39-year-old penned an emotional goodbye to the club where he’s spent the last 11 years of his career:
“After 11 years I don’t know if I can describe everything… I try, because I am bitter and sad but at the same time happy to have made a dream come true for so long.
I will miss Inter, the San Siro stadium, the fans and that thrill when the stadium erupts.
They teach you and leave their mark, they explain what passion and courage are and why every day you have to sacrifice to feel certain emotions.
So many battles, challenges won and challenges lost, disappointments and joy. Being yourself for me counts more than anything in our world (football I mean) of hypocrites, I tried to be a man before a footballer.
I thank everyone. The teammates of so many years in the Nerazzurri, coaches, staff, doctors, physiotherapists, warehousemen all the collaborators, presidents and managers of these years that have been so different, that I have experienced so deeply and with such a strong sense of belonging that I could not imagine before.
I thank our curva of the stadium where we won losing games and celebrated winning ones, although so many will never understand….
A special thanks I want to dedicate to the Curva Nord. In addition to the love for these colors, we were united by the direct, practical, honest and consistent way of seeing football that is not that of words and talk. Attitude. For I have always had clear in me the awareness of the difference and the different respect deserving of those who pay to judge and comment, even making mistakes, and those who are paid to do so, in the different ways possible.How proud to have worn this jersey and this armband. I have experienced this privilege by always giving my best.
I will try to play a few more years, this is goodbye but I will always remain one of US.”
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