APPIANO GENTILE – Piero Ausilio gave a long exclusive interview to Inter Channel on this week's Prima Serata. As the programme goes to air at 21:00, here you can read the final instalment of his words.
Nerazzurri fans asked Inter's sporting director about Lazar Markovic, the Serbian starlet who plays for Partizan Belgrade: "He's a young, talented lad but he definitely needs to continue his development because a single game - the one he played against us in San Siro - is not enough to say that he's the right player for us. I'm told he's got his head screwed on and is a hard worker, but it's the same situation we had with Quintero because he's also non-EU. Serbia isn't a member of the European Union at the moment so Markovic is on the same level as a Brazilian. He's certainly a player we'll keep an eye on."
Players who have done well after changing teams, such as Lodi, Bergessio, Cigarini, "are not extravagant," Ausilio explained, "because you get players who give the best of themselves in a certain setting. Cigarini and Denis can have a great future in Bergamo, for example, though I think they are already at a big team."Is it difficult to complete transfer deals in Germany? That was a question put to Piero Ausilio in the context of a potential move for Borussia Dortmund defender Mats Hummels for the post-Samuel era. "Germany is in observed. "They've undertaken a big project involving stadiums and youth academies and now they are reaping the rewards."
More names were reeled off: Funes Mori ("We're looking at him, but no more so than many others. It wouldn't be right if you went to Argentina and didn't watch River... It's one of those clubs you always keep an eye on"), Giuseppe Rossi ("He's trying to make sure he recovers properly from his injury, he's been sidelined for a year and a half. I wish him all the best. Let's wait for him to return, then we'll see"), Nagatomo and whether he might be able to follow a similar path to Zanetti's ("I hope he can, he's an extremely useful player with his ability to produce the same top performances in different positions") and then explained how the Coutinho deal came about: "He has always been highly rated in Brazil, a player that everyone was talking about like Neymar. At the time it was difficult to say which of the two was better. The difference was that with Philippe we were able to find the right conditions to sign him. He stayed at Vasco for two years to mature and develop further. His club was very understanding and helpful and he arrived in Italy shortly before his 18th birthday, in August 2010. Today it would be impossible to to do a similar deal at the same financial conditions. Neymar's situation with Santos was complicated, now he's a player the whole of Europe wants but I don't think he'll move from Brazil before the 2014 World Cup."
Speaking of the future, Ausilio provided some insight into how the club will work moving forward: "We were one of the first clubs in Italy to conceive the idea of an international youth academy, back in 2001-2002 with Martins and Pandev, for example. We signed Biabiany when he wasn't even plying at professional level, but for a while now the line we've taken with Roberto Samaden and Pierluigi Casiraghi – a little different to how we did things in the past – is to rediscover Italian talents. Excellent scouting of the youngest boys and a lot of work with Italian footballers."
Finally, when asked by a fan to avoid any further controversy with Juventus because it's not worth it, Inter's sporting director replied in concise fashion: "Honestly, we don't talk a lot. We're certainly not famous for being particularly loquacious."
