Simone Inzaghi spoke about his contract renewal with Inter and insisted the club must continue to improve, despite their recent Scudetto success. Inzaghi has renewed his contract with the Nerazzurri until 2026, and spoke to the gathered press about the clubs ambitions for the season ahead:
“Surely the biggest challenge will be to improve in commitment and daily work. The guys have done something extraordinary. But this year everyone is expecting us, there is an obligation to improve. Me first.”
Then he continued: “The renewal? I’m very happy. I thank the club, the president, the directors. I feel at home and appreciated, this is what matters most. We have never been far apart. I thank the new ownership and all the directors. The goal for the season? To make the fans happy. Happy fans, we are happy too. It’s been 80 days since April 22, we were on vacation with our families and it was wonderful to see so many happy fans. They thanked me and asked me to thank the players and the club. The second star belongs to everyone. We were a united body and we must continue to be so. We have made a great journey and we would like to do it again this year.”
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Regarding the market, he said: “The club moved well in advance. We have signed 3 players who were strongly wanted by all of us. Three excellent players that we know. Now we have had a setback with Buchanan and we are evaluating. We need to complete that role, because it will be an absence until Christmas. My directors will be ready as always. I am very happy with what has been done. Next year there will be 70 games, it will be a novelty for everyone. Being Inter, we must try to reach the end of everything and play them all. To these matches, we must also add the national team matches.”
Then he returned to the objectives: “We will have to be even more fierce, even in training. A season like last year… will not be simple. Everyone starts from zero. Some teams will declare themselves, others not… but all will want to win. Let us not forget that in recent years, Milan and Napoli did not qualify in the top positions after winning the Scudetto. Now we have several players on vacation, when they return I will remind them that in the last two years the Scudetto winner had great difficulties.”
On the new coaches arriving at other big clubs: “Is our continuity an advantage? Time will tell. Two excellent coaches like Conte and Fonseca have returned. The rivals are strengthening. We must be ready for sure. We will have players arriving little by little. We decided to give them 3 extra days of vacation so they return free. Gradually they will return, we start tomorrow. Zielinski and Asllani will arrive on the 18th, the Italians on the 24th, then Arnautovic… in August we expect Lautaro and Carboni.”
Inzaghi then commented on Italy’s European Championship: “I spoke to my players, they were down, as they should be. We didn’t do very well but we are in good hands, Spalletti is an excellent coach. The injuries to Acerbi, Berardi, and Dimarco weighed heavily. We had a disappointment but we are in good hands and there is material. The Under teams have won. We must recover from the disappointment because we have good material.”
The coach then focused on the Champions League: “Is this the strongest Inter I have ever coached? You ask me this every year. Last year we had a great journey, the year before we reached the Champions League final. The field will tell which is the strongest. This year the goal is to go as far as possible. We know we face great teams with big budgets, but this cannot be an alibi. Beyond the budgets, what counts is the interpretation and the desire that is put on the field.”
Inzaghi then talked about the new arrivals: “We have three new and important players, to be evaluated and we have to see how they will fit in. Last year we sometimes changed the way we played. We will restart with our footprint but we are ready to improve and do something unpredictable for our opponents. Carboni? We saw what he did at Monza. He is a player who has already proven himself. He had a great start in the Copa America. He is in the future of Inter, I am waiting for him along with our captain. Zielinski, we all know. Apart from the last season, in the previous 5 years, he was the Serie A player with the most starting appearances. He has great qualities, he will give us a great hand. Taremi, we have followed him for some time. He impressed us a lot in the Champions League. He fits perfectly into our game. He will give us a great hand. We went for Martinez because he had two great seasons at Genoa and fits well with our system. He knows that in front of him he has Sommer who is the starter, but he is enthusiastic and loaded. There are many games.”
Regarding the opponents: “Conte and Fonseca are two excellent coaches and I respect them a lot. The two Roman teams are working well. Let’s not forget Bologna and especially Atalanta. In recent years, they have done very well and have already made purchases. They have a great coach and we must keep an eye on all these teams.”
Inzaghi then sent a message to those who left: “Zhang? I can only thank him because, together with the directors, he brought me to Inter. I will thank him forever. He will remain in the club’s history. I privately thanked the five players who left: Sensi, Klaassen, Audero, Cuadrado, and Sanchez. They were very important guys. They gave a lot. I publicly thank them.”
Regarding the many games and the club world cup: “It will be something new, we must be careful with the preparation. Carboni and Lautaro return on August 8 and after 9-10 days the championship starts. We must try to use the whole squad.”
Then, Inzaghi revealed that he had been approached by other teams: “Interest from other teams? I don’t deny it, but I never thought for a moment of leaving Inter. I feel appreciated and when I feel appreciated, I don’t even think about other proposals. I feel at home. The compliments are nice but I never thought about it.”
Inzaghi then explained the need to buy a new defender: “We have Carlos Augusto who we like very much as a wing-back, but at the same time last year we discovered that he also did well as Bastoni’s deputy. However, we want to get a player to be Bastoni’s deputy. It is urgent, but it doesn’t keep us awake at night because we have seen that Carlos was excellent and the year before Acerbi too. Regarding the market, never say never. I am fortunate to have professionals here beside me, they are masters and have helped me over the years. Dumfries last year until December did very well, then he had a problem and the last months were not up to his standards, but at the European Championship, we saw the usual Dumfries. We have a need in that role, we will do something: let’s not forget that we also have Carboni.”
On the possibility of making more rotations: “Surely, but last year I think there were periods when we had the so-called second lines that gave us a great hand, we had players like Frattesi or Carlos Augusto who gave us a great hand. If I think of an Inter without them two we would have had big problems, instead, they arrived from Monza and Sassuolo and integrated immediately very well into this reality. This year the new ones will have to do the same, then I will have to be good at understanding when to change. It is difficult to plan these matches in football, from time to time it will be the players, with their commitment and the help of the medical staff.”
Inzaghi then talked about the possibility of deploying Bastoni in the center of defense, as seen in Euro 2024: “Bastoni as a central defender? He is a great player, but fortunately at Inter, we have Acerbi and De Vrij, we are covered. So he will always play in the role of left central defender.”
The coach then talked about his group: “I am fortunate to have great players and great people who always want to win. The players are all the same, everyone wants to play the marquee match and maybe not the one two days later away. There is a coach who is paid for that, who has to make choices, our secret is the great unity we had. Probably there were some unhappy players but they didn’t show it to us on the staff: we had a goal and we all rowed in the same direction.”
Regarding his relationship with the club’s management, he added: “It is the reason why I feel very well here, I feel appreciated by my managers, by my president, by the new ownership which is solid and cares a lot about Inter. They support me and my staff, with the desire we have always had since 2021. Many games have passed but, as our president said, we hope there will be many more.”
Inzaghi then returned to the market: “Hermoso? The names that have come out are all names that interest Inter, then we have continuous discussions. These names are those of players that interest Inter, I have this desire and it will be fulfilled. From today we will be together daily and we will try to put the right player in the best conditions to perform in our system. Frattesi and Bisseck will have more space? I hope so, they are players who were fundamental last year, I also think of Asllani, they had less playing time compared to the starters, for me, they had the same importance as Calhanoglu or Pavard.”
The coach returned to the topic of many games: “Too many games? It is a topic addressed over the years. Modern football is like this… we coaches would like fewer games, but we have to adapt to the pace. There are many games, it is also done to have more revenue and earn more. This year playing in July will be a novelty, there will be players whose contracts expire in June. These are novelties but football moves on.”
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Inzaghi then talked about his attack: “Regarding the attack, we are happy as is. Regarding Arnautovic specifically: I talked about him last year, he and Sanchez did what we all needed. With Carboni, we have one more option, depending on the matches you can change and work with two second strikers, in some matches, he can also be the offensive fifth when you keep two wing-backs he can stay wide always aiming at the opponent. He can improve us because in one-on-one situations we know we don’t have great characteristics.”
Finally, he answered a question about Juventus: “They have changed, they are changing. A great coach has arrived, whom I respect and who has done a great job at all the clubs he has coached. They will be a dangerous opponent, as are the others I mentioned before.”
