Ausilio: “Guarin? Very happy to keep him”

ROME – Inter sporting director Piero Ausilio chatted to Sky Italia before the Nerazzurri’s match with Lazio.

The first question put to him was about Nainggolan, who is said to be very close to signing for Roma. Are Inter disappointed they’ve missed out on him? Ausilio replied: "We didn’t miss out, we were never close to him, so there’s no disappointment. As far as I knew when I woke up this morning he was going to join Napoli… He’s not one of the players we thought we could enter negotiations for at this time."

What about Fredy Guarin’s future? "He’s an Inter player and we’re very happy to keep him here. I can’t deny there was contact with Chelsea. We authorised them to make contact with the player’s agent if it came to it but it didn’t in the end. We have no desire to sell him because he’s an important player. We’ve tried to get him performing more consistently and now he’s doing brilliantly in the role of provider and scoring more as well. We’re very happy to keep him with us.

"Another forward? We’re sorted up front with Milito and Icardi. Osvaldo? That’s not even a rumour, there’s nothing in that whatsoever."