A few minutes before the start whistle of Sparta Prague-Inter, 7th day of the Champions League, the sporting director of the Nerazzurri, Piero Ausilio, was interviewed by Sky Sport to comment on his team’s upcoming European commitment.
Here are his words:
QUALIFICATION – Aside from the economic factor, which is important, the technical aspect, ambition and prestige of the club matter the most. Our only goal is to make it through the round and possibly into the top 8, but we have to face two difficult matches. I trust the guys more than the algorithms, they drive me crazy. We must stay focused, take it one game at a time and only think about tonight.
FRATTESI – The summary of the situation is much simpler than it seems. The player has never asked for a transfer. The manager recently checked in with the whole team, which is the right thing to do at this time. Everyone is focused on our goals, which we know. Frattesi is an important player and has never explicitly expressed the desire to leave. There are no teams that have directly expressed interest, we know he has a very nice, but also very active agent who has been doing some ground work. In my opinion, it has become more of a media matter. Lately he has played less because he had some issues and, despite not being in top shape, he has always been available and has never backed down.
BUCHANAN – We are assessing with him and his team whether it would be more beneficial for him to complete the next few months in another place, because he has not played much. He is coming off a bad injury and has just returned. There is interest, not just from Torino, but also from Italian and foreign teams, some of which are in cups. We are evaluating together, but I do not rule out that he stays, because we have many matches to play and Buchanan is a strong player. We will listen to everyone, but he has never expressed a desire to leave.
DONNARUMMA – I’ll be honest, we are focusing on the market for June and a goalkeeper is not our priority and it is not a necessity. We have two strong goalkeepers and they have proven and are proving their worth. Despite my respect for Donnarumma, which I cannot help but have, today a goalkeeper is not our priority. We are looking elsewhere.
