APPIANO GENTILE – Adem Ljajic hopes to continue his development and become an even better player at Inter after joining the club on deadline day.
Still only 23, the skilful Serbian has already spent half a decade in Serie A since arriving at Fiorentina as an 18-year-old and now, after a two-year spell at Roma, he's ready for a fresh challenge at what he feels is a key stage of his career.
He told journalists at a media conference today: "There was talk of me maybe coming to Milan over the summer but then it all happened on the last day. I'm happy to be at a club like Inter at an important stage of my career. I think I can become an even better player here. I spoke to the coach and I had no hesitation in making the decision to join.
"I've been in Italy for five and a half years now and I'm learning new things and improving every year. I turned down lots of offers to move abroad. I hope to stay at Inter for a long time."
Ljajic arrived in Milan on Tuesday after spending last week on international duty with Serbia, so when asked if he is feeling the derby fever that's been gripping the city he replied: "I only got here two days ago so I haven't really had much time to think about it yet. But we all know it's a special game for the fans and one that's watched all over the world. We'll give our all on the pitch to win it."
The man in the opposition dugout on Sunday is fellow Serbian Sinisa Mihajlovic, whom Inter and Ljajic both know well. "He was an important person for me because he was the first coach to give me a decent run in the team here in Italy," Adem explained. "It will be nice to see him again."
Ljajic now finds himself on the same team as Stevan Jovetic, who has made a lightning start to to his Nerazzurri career by notching three goals in his first two games. Adem admitted that he is thrilled at the idea of playing alongside his former Fiorentina team-mate again: "He's one of the best players I've ever played with. We had some great times together in Florence, especially in our last year under Montella. I'm delighted to have this chance to link up with him again. He's a great friend, like a brother to me."
The 23-year-old then spoke about his favourite position and his choice of shirt number.
"I like playing in the hole but I've played in lots of different positions in my career so I don't mind," he said.
"As for my shirt number, I chose 20 initially from the ones that were left but then Dodo wanted number 6 so he let me have 22. I'm really happy to have it again."
The forward was also asked if Inter can now be considered on a par with Juventus after taking maximum points from the first two games. "I think they're still a bit ahead of everyone else because they won the league the last few seasons, but there are lots of teams who could be right up there in the mix at the end, ourselves included. We have to concentrate on one game at a time and see where we end up."
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