L’Inter needs to be rejuvenated, it has been the strongest for five years but has won little

Marco Delvecchio, who grew up in the Nerazzurri youth sector, spoke about the current team and memories tied to his time wearing the Inter shirt. The former striker gave an interview to Corriere della Sera, focusing on the Nerazzurri squad and his past at Appiano Gentile.

Regarding today’s team, Delvecchio gave a clear opinion: “It’s the strongest team of the last five years, but it has won little in terms of league titles. Dumfries will be a heavy loss, Stones is a good player, if they also get Romero they’ll fix the defense, but the team needs to be rejuvenated a bit.”

The former footballer retraced the years of his growth in the Nerazzurri youth academy. “The first trial, actually, I did with Milan at 11 years old, Italo Galbiati chose me, the call-up arrived at home at the end of August, but my father didn’t let me go, I was too young. I sulked for a month, but he was right. ‘If you’re really good, another chance will come,’ he said, and at 15 Inter spotted me. I was playing for the Sempione Nord team in Quarto Oggiaro and the Nerazzurri call came, Interello became my home.”

The move to the Primavera coincided with strong emotions. “I couldn’t believe I was training near the first team. Milan has always been a crossroads for me: I studied in Rho, accounting, ate a sandwich at the back of the class without being seen and rushed to catch the bus at 1:30 pm for Qt8, from there the subway to Lotto and another bus to Appiano Gentile. I’d return at 7:30 pm, arrive in Arese exhausted, study early in the morning and start again.”

The jump to the first team brought great emotions. “In ’90 I watched the Italian World Cup of magical nights on TV, in ’91 I was at Inter with Zenga as my locker neighbor, that locker room was crazy, Matthaeus, Brehme, Bergomi, Riccardo Ferri… Charisma and personality to spare, at first I was intimidated. When I returned, in the ’94-95 season, Moratti told me I would become the flag of Inter, but while I was at training camp with the Under 21s they told me about the swap with Branca and I moved to Roma. In the end, it worked out well for both of us.”

A special memory concerns Nicola Berti. “For two years Nicola Berti was my roommate at Appiano. Hilarious. Sometimes he’d wake up at 3 am, even before a match, and wanted to play poker, he even smoked cigars, at that hour of the night he’d get calls from the most unexpected people. Once he kept saying goodbye ‘bye Giorgio, bye Giorgio’: it was Giorgio Armani.”