Inter sporting director Piero Ausilio touched on the clubs failed negotiations with Romelu Lukaku last summer, saying the Belgian striker was far from being correct in his actions. Lukaku was widely expected to join Inter after a loan spell at the club, but reportedly entered into talks with Juventus, prompting the Nerazzurri to pull out of talks. The Belgian eventually joined Roma, but speaking during a club documentary entitled “Intergalactic”, Ausilio shared his perspective of last summer:
“I would prefer not to talk about it. I’ll just say that in all things there must be education and respect. Do you know how many negotiations fall through with players? But if there’s a willingness to speak face-to-face, looking each other in the eyes with respect, there’s never a problem.
When, however, someone hangs up the phone, doesn’t answer, gives half-responses, or does things far from being correct, then you think it’s time to turn the page. For me, it was a closed matter from July 8, because I remember the date perfectly. There’s no problem and I’m happy with what came after.”
In Lukaku’s place, Marcus Thuram arrived from Borussia Monchengladbach, evolving from a wide forward to the perfect central partner for Lautaro Martinez: “The first time I talked about him within the club was after Lukaku’s sale to Chelsea. He played as a winger at Gladbach; he wasn’t a central striker and didn’t even know he could be one. Besides Dzeko, we needed something to complete the attack, and he was the chosen one.
He got injured, stayed sidelined for a few months, and we had to change our target (we signed Correa instead). But those meetings laid the foundation. Lilian (Thuram) remembered, and he always tells me I was the first to see that his son could be a central striker. He didn’t forget, and neither did Marcus, who remembered the project we had for him. So, we had that necessary advantage to sign him.”
