Thursday, August 5, 2010

Inter Have Plenty Of Talent Aside From Mario Balotelli - Massimo Moratti


Moratti resigned to losing SuperMario...

Inter president Massimo Moratti has given the strongest indication yet that Mario Balotelli will join Manchester City at some point this week once the clubs agree on a fee.

The Nerazzurri, City and Mino Raiola, Balotelli's agent, are all working to bring the long-running saga to a fruitful conclusion as trading continues.

And Moratti has resigned himself to losing the Italian striker, but says his team would cope with the eventual loss.

"Inter have many talented and important players aside from Mario Balotelli," he told Sky Sport Italia.

However, when asked to spell out when the axe would fall on a deal the chief remain silent.

The latest reports claim City are locked in a tug of war with the European champions over the transfer fee.

They are reportedly offering €26 million plus a series of bonuses, but Inter are expecting €30m plus extras.

However, all parties want a deal to be concluded soon, and thus they could meet in between offer and demand when push comes to shove.

Sky Sport Italia claims a conclusion is expected by Wednesday, with the striker signing a five-year deal worth €3.5m per annum.

Agent Of Inter's Maicon Flies To Spain To Solve Transfer Issues With Real Madrid - Report


Maicon is no closer to joining former mentor Mourinho...

Brazilian defender Maicon will hope to complete his transfer from Inter to Real Madrid this week, as his agent, Antonio Caliendo, flies to Spain to meet with los Blancos. The deal between the two has been making news headlines for the past month with ultimatums, player and agent claims, wants and needs reported every half an hour.

After a fee was supposedly agreed upon, Maicon's agent last week revealed to AS that someone was frustrating the switch and attempted to clear his name from any such assumptions.

"There will be important developments soon, even though someone is playing dirty," said Caliendo. "The chance of staying at Inter is concrete, after all he is well in Milan. The problem for Real Madrid is wages, they don't want to make a sacrifice."

Caliendo will meet Real Madrid CEO Jorge Valdano early this week according to Football-Italia and intends to negotiate on behalf of the player. Maicon is currently demanding €7 million per annum with the Spaniards deeming this unacceptable; it is the same figure Sami Khedira was reported to have asked for before dropping his demands to sign.

The two clubs still have to agree on a fee with Inter holding out for a bid of it least €28m but player terms will be handled first.