Marco Palestra’s agent hit back angrily at Inter President Beppe Marotta and reveals when Chelsea got involved. ‘Over 45 days, Inter never reached an agreement with Atalanta.’
The Italy international had been on the verge of joining Inter last month in a deal believed to be worth €40m plus €5m add-ons.
However, before they could shake hands, Chelsea dived in with a proposal worth a good €10m more to Atalanta, and with double the salary on offer at San Siro.
Inter President Marotta bitterly criticised Palestra today during a press conference and mentioned agent Alessandro Lucci too.
“Take the case of Palestra, for example. It was the result of a decision made by the player, who backed out of a verbal agreement,” said Marotta.
“His agent could have steered him in a different direction, but chose this path instead, and we had to accept seeing another Italian player move to a league that is not in direct competition with ours.”
Palestra agent replies to Inter attack
Lucci did not take that lying down and has now given a statement to news agency ANSA.
“I listened with great sadness and at the same time enormous shock at the words of Inter President Marotta, who I’ve had a professional rapport with for over 25 years, doing many deals together,” said Palestra’s agent.
“The Inter directors, represented by Piero Ausilio, carried on constant and constructive talks with us on the opportunity to complete this transfer.
“However, the element that decided the outcome was not described accurately in today’s press conference. Over 45 days the two clubs, who were in daily contact, were never able to reach a definitive agreement.
“This allowed Chelsea, with whom contact began only two weeks earlier, as I had quickly informed the two clubs, burst in during the final days and sealed a deal with Atalanta, the player and with us to close the move rapidly.
“At this point, I hope that we can all turn the page and look to the future with calm, without more attacks as a pretext against a player who deserves respect.”
It was no secret that several months ago Palestra was approached by Inter and told them he would be more than happy to wait it out for a move to San Siro.
However, the failure to work out a deal with Atalanta stalled the process, and ultimately Chelsea came in with an equally strong project.
It is not the first time that Inter have struggled to agree terms with Atalanta, as they also came close with no progress for Ademola Lookman and Ederson.
