APPIANO GENTILE – "Our target has always been to get back into the Champions League and that means finishing in the top three. I've never talked about winning the league but getting back into those top spots, and we'll give everything we have to achieve that. Does that mean I'm not thinking about the Scudetto anymore? I've never thought about it seriously to be quite honest, because it's only right that you should do things one step at a time. Our target is to get back into the Champions League." That's how Andrea Stramaccioni set out Inter's objectives during his press conference today.
Moving from league targets to transfer targets, the Nerazzurri coach was asked if Inter would be capable of finishing in the top three even if no reinforcements were to arrive during the transfer window. He replied: "I think so. Regardless of the various problems we've had that have deprived us of certain players on the pitch, compared to how we were last summer we've only lost Sneijder. Nothing else has changed. I have great belief in what we're doing and so do the team. Have we been weakened? You weigh everything up at the end of the transfer window, but as I said, compared to the start of the season, only Wes has gone."The coach was then asked about which other players might leave and in particular about Marko Livaja's future: "I'll make a decision about Livaja depending on what I see and what happens in the transfer market. I have faith in him and I'll only let him go if I think it's really worth it. He's perfectly capable of doing well in Serie A."
Stramaccioni was also probed about his meeting with president Massimo Moratti yesterday. "Yes, we got together. We both have the same aims, we're on the same wavelength about everything - we want to help Inter grow and improve. As for what could happen between now and 31 January, I have full confidence in the president and our directors. The aim is to enhance the team. We already have an excellent group here so if we are to improve we need top players. Anyone we bring anyone in has to be better than what we've got already. And any painful sales we might make are entirely dependent on the arrival of other important players who can improve Inter. I use the word 'painful' because it would mean letting go of someone that I'm fond of and who started this project with us. It was the same with Wes. It ended the way it was supposed to end and that's fine. You have to make choices: if we think it will improve Inter, we'll do it. If not, we won't. And regardless of who we have here on 1 February, we'll fight to the very end. Would it be better to sign a trequartista or a deep-lying playmaker? What's 'better' depends on what you have and what there is going; there's nothing 'better' in an abstract sense. This is the mid-season transfer window when, if we can, we must improve Inter by signing players who are good enough for Inter."
