Inter, Ausilio: “The market, Lautaro, Lukaku, Thuram, Inzaghi and…”

“There was a lack of education and respect with Lukaku. Lautaro? He was 99% Atletico, but I took him away from him. The most difficult negotiation? The one for Pavard.” Piero Ausilio, guest on Radio TV Serie A with Rds, the official broadcaster of the Lega Serie A, spoke freely about his Nerazzurri experience. “My thoughts go to many things, from the match that was to the one that will be. We live at a pace that doesn’t allow you to relax, but it’s nice to also think about something light every now and then. The journey is long, full of effort, sacrifices and many things, as they should be. To get to the level of Inter today you have to go through a beautiful path, with important staff, with an ownership that has given a lot of motivation and has collected an important legacy, managing to be successful in a very short time “.

What kind of Inter fan is he?

“I try to live in the present, through work and sacrifices, thinking about how I can make a contribution to this society. I started my journey 25 years ago, taking steps that have trained me and made me stronger. Today I feel, also for The age that I am, solid, strong and competent to be able to make a contribution to such a strong society.”

“I was born for the pleasure of football. I was sick of football. I was born and raised in Pro Sesto, I started my career as a manager there because I interrupted my career as a footballer early.”

The first cry for Inter?

“I don’t remember any particular tears. In some losing finals I didn’t cry, but a bit of bitterness remained. But already from the next day there was a desire to start again. The last one held in Istanbul? I’d say yes.”

In 1998 the first meeting with Inter.

“I remember it perfectly. There was a negotiation there too with the head of the youth sector at the time. They wanted me to start full-time, but I was missing an exam and managed to win the negotiation for a part-time period of 6 months with 4 hours only in the afternoon, which then always turned into 8-10. I spent many evenings in Interello with the caretaker who came to give me a sandwich, but it never bothered me. I remember the first real match I saw at the stadium with the crest of Inter was the UEFA Cup final at the Parco dei Principi Inter-Lazio. I remember my debut as sporting director with pleasure, it was also the lucky one. Moratti called me while I was in Brazil, he told me he wanted me to follow the team to Kiev in 2010: it was also decisive for the Triplete. From there I started following the first team.”

The absolute best moment?

“Many things link me to the youth sector, we did crazy things. We won a lot, but the satisfaction that the youth sector gives you is seeing the kids grow. We have won many championships in these 25 years, I have given my contribution because in the years of Branca also gave me great responsibility. The last one, Conte’s, is the one that I feel is 100% mine.”

What purchase are you most proud of?

“There are many, all beautiful and particular stories. I would risk doing someone an injustice, but Lautaro’s story is a very particular one because in fact he was a player for Atletico Madrid. When you take a plane and go there to attempt the 1 % in a 99% compromised situation you risk making a bad impression, but it was a crazy 4 days. All that was missing was the agreement with Atletico, there was a clause that luckily Lautaro didn’t want to exercise and there we did great team work Zanetti helped me with his agent, Milito, with their very harsh president. Once everything was over there was a disastrous match, because he scored 3 goals and got a penalty that evening. We sat down at the table again the next day and We paid him a little more, but we managed to take him home. I also have wonderful memories of Balotelli, having put him in the football that counts: he took his chance at 70%.”

The most complicated negotiation?

“There are many. It wasn’t easy to snatch Pavard from Bayern, for example, because they didn’t want to take him away. In the one that seems most obvious to you, something happens a minute from the end.”

“There are, but it’s better not to remember them. I want to mention the name of Pierluigi Casiraghi, my second father from a sporting and professional point of view: he saw the strong ones before the others. He saw Fabregas at 16 years old, we did everything to get him but we couldn’t it was a possibility. There have been many other players who were treated and then went elsewhere.”

What was the biggest disappointment of your career?

“In many years you have more than one disappointment. With Lukaku it is disappointment for how it ended, but I have respect in trying not to talk about a player from another club. I like to talk about the present and the future, he was part of Inter’s past. I am reminded of a wonderful Scudetto, a beautiful, real capital gain and two lost finals.”

What happened with Lukaku? Does he tell us the truth?

“I prefer not to talk about it. I’m just saying that there must be education and respect in all things. At a certain point, things were moving forward, but education and respect were lacking. If there is a desire to say things to each other in eyes there is never a problem. When you don’t answer the phone, you deny it or you answer through other people, then it’s time to move on. It’s been like this since July 8th. The phone call in which I got angry? Ua legend. There was this call after several attempts, but it didn’t last long. She was determined, firm, but nothing special. I said what I thought in a short time.”

Lukaku, Samardzic and Skriniar: what a summer…

“They are experiences, from defeats on the field to those in the transfer market. You always learn something.”

How many times has it been the subject of negotiations?

“It happened. I never had the desire to leave. There were contacts, situations, but never a negotiation or talk of a project. Basically I never had the thought of leaving a club like this, it’s too difficult. they connect too many things, beyond the coat of arms: it is my second family. For me it is different from the others. The moment will come when a president will tell me that it is right to change and I will only be able to say a huge thank you.”

“A nice couple, it works because there is respect. He understands football, has years of experience, but has a great quality: he delegates and gives trust to the people he has. I in turn transmit the same to the people close to me I think he intervened to say no to a player a couple of times in these 5 years, but only because perhaps he already knew the player or aspects of his character that I didn’t know. He lets you work, then we discuss it. It allows the sporting director to concentrate on his work, because I don’t have the time or desire to concentrate on relationships, communication etc. I focus on the coach, players and meetings with agents with 100% attention, without losing concentration on things that aren’t They’re mine”.

“Nice couple, but I like to talk about a quartet. They are working very well, but we also have Sanchez and Arnautovic, who will show us what he can give.”

The first time you noticed Thuram?

“After the sale of Lukaku to Chelsea. He didn’t even know he was a first striker. Dzeko was taken for 0 by Roma, but we were missing the second striker to complete the unit with Lautaro. He was the chosen one, but he got injured: I had already spoken with him and his father, the negotiation proceeded quickly also thanks to Mino Raiola, who I take this opportunity to remember. We had almost defined everything, but the Sunday before the final meeting he hurt his knee and we had to change our objective. Those meetings were the basis I was the first to tell Lilian that her son could become a central striker, she reminded me of it the other day. Our project was finalized and aimed at him, we took the advantage.”

Replacing Onana with Sommer?

“Different goalkeepers, but we needed certainties because we had also lost Handanovic. We had already decided to change after so many years, but there is a project on Samir and he will stay to help us over the next two years. At that point we wanted something certain and that he was ready immediately: we could focus on younger goalkeepers, but Sommer was what we needed. He had already taken care to learn Italian during the negotiation, he’s a crazy professional.”

How has the market changed in recent years?

“A lot, like the position of the Italians compared to the others. The Italians can make investments, but always with a certain amount of attention and without doing anything crazy. There are clubs around the world that have more resources and you can feel this difference, but we are good because we always manage to find cheaper situations or anticipate the market, also by bringing back players from stronger clubs who haven’t established themselves 100%, recovering them and bringing them to levels suited to their qualities. In England you find interesting situations.”

Are the agents exaggerating?

“I would always speak on a subjective level, without generalising. There are agents who also help companies and some are only interested in their own portfolio, losing sight of slightly more complete interests. I work with many, I have met many: I consider some less and many more. You can do this with experience.”

“Yes, even if I don’t remember them all. The next one? Something not very distant, obviously sporting, but it requires work, strength and continuity. I’d like to get to the second star who is there, the others are also fighting. It’s important to fight until the end , if someone is better we will shake their hand.”

In Istanbul you didn’t seem that far away.

“We seemed more like it before playing it. During the match we seemed very strong and competitive, we played on par with the strongest team in the world. We are ambitious, even though we are aware that there are teams better equipped than us. We want to sell the game dearly everyone’s skin. I know where we started: at the beginning of Suning’s journey we were perhaps behind fiftieth place in the ranking, now we are between seventh and eighth. Maybe this will give us the chance to participate in the Club World Cup and it’s not long now, now let’s think about qualifying for the round of 16.”

“Simplicity, humble, ingenious and lazy. He is one of the nicest people known in the world of football, but he has his own routine, needs that you don’t displace even with cannonballs. He is brilliant, he is talented and he is still young. He has good taste for He plays quality football and makes everyone feel good. He has created a good group and it shows, the results are not only the result of the performance, but also of feeling good together and wanting to share time and space.”

How close was the exoneration?

“Never. I’m completely sincere, it’s not in Zhang and Marotta’s culture. I don’t think Marotta has ever sacked a coach in 40 years of football, much less me. It was a difficult moment, but we knew that we needed the strength of unity and also that they were encouraged, prodded, with the right attention to the things that were wrong. We were all good at coming out of it and starting the crazy journey of the last two months that led us to qualification for the Champions League, to the Italian Cup final and to Istanbul. Exemption never taken into consideration, it is not in the culture of the Inter managers.”