Inters sporting director Marco Branca was interviewed by the newspaper Libero where he talked about many different subjects. From the sale of Sneijder to the deals for Schelotto and Rocchi:
Branca, are you busy working with the mercato right now?
“It is hard to deny that we have just entered the mercato. We are always thinking about improving the team, but now we have entered the official transfer period.”
Give us one of your goals for the next season?
“Our primary target since a couple of seasons back is the same as always, lowering the wage costs and try to make a competetive team. Because of these reasons we need to check what we can move with before making any investments.”
Don’t you have any ideas of how you could spend?
“Right now we need to create the right conditions to sell. There are very few teams right now who are making a real mercato buying players. Monaco and PSG in France, the two Spanish teams and a couple of Brittish and German teams.”
So you mean some players in the team are for sale?
“On todays mercato all players are negotiable. Then an eventual offer will be valued by the club and the coach at first.”
Have you received any offers for any player yet?
“We have had some offers, but we can’t say more.”
Handanovic?
“We are talking about one of the best goalkeepers in Europe but there is nothing concrete. I know Barcelonas sporting director Zubizarreta very well and we have never talked about any negotiations.”
It is hard to plan something while a deal with Indonesian investors is on stand by. Talking about that, do you have any news?
“I listen to what my president says and stand by his side. Right now ne is thinking about it, but there are no worries or any pressure from neither sides.”
If the Indonesians would come, how would your role be effected? Are you worried about it?
“I don’t mind those kinds of problems, it wouldn’t be correct against the club. I’m thinking about the work that needs to be done everyday and to do the best possible with the funds I have.”
There are those who have critisized you harshly the last months?
“I can promice you I always accept the critisizm, I have been given a precise task and that is to lower the wage costs at the same time as the club is competetive on the field. I am following this task concretely and step by step.( The wage costs were lowered 48 milion euros last season.)
But those who critisize you don’t think a lot about the economics. They say you have commited mistakes the last transfer periods?
“They haven’t got our responsibilities. With Platinis proposal, the economical balance and perspective has become a central target. Together with the economical crisis, the club has had the be very attentive on what is spent. To speak clear, we need to make sacrifices, no one is happy about it, but it’s a duty we need to follow.”
Does this mean you can’t buy anything on the mercato?
“Absolutely not. The last 18 months we’ve bought players like Handanovic, Palacio, Kovacic, Guarin, Juan and many others. With this way of working we’ve built the base of the team that gave us our last 15 trophees. Trophees that we wan because of players like Cambiasso(came for free), Maxwell(came for free), Maicon(6.5 million euros), Ibra(25 million euros), Vieira(10 million euros), Samuel(15 million euros), Milito and Motta(18 million and 5 players), Pandev(came for free), Lucio(5 million euros), Sneijder(15 million euros), and Eto’o(came in a swap with Ibra and gave Inter 50 million euros). So I’d say that we have done something good the last few seasons.”
Things are harder now though, the budget is smaller..
“The thing that has changed more than our attention to the cost of the player and his wages, is the time that we can make our signings. We can’t no longer attack the targets that we’ve set directly, we need to wait and strike at the right moment to get the best price of the player.”
There are those who call you a raccomandato(someone who got his job because of contacts to the family, which is very usual in Italy)?
“I’m used to be concrete and make things happen. Being a “raccomandato” often works in the beginning of a career, not for ten years.”
This year was catastrophal though..
“With a bit more luck we could’ve done better. It was very hard with all injuries towards the end of the season.”
Sneijder attacked you harshly?
“We bought Sneijder when he was no longer a part of the project in Madrid. With us he won straight away and was a Balon d’Or competitor. He knows the truth. For Sneijder, we haven’t received an offer from any other club than Galatasaray. After the treble, we didn’t receive any offer. We were happy that we had discussed and renewed his contract. Last summer Wesley presented himself at the pre season fit, in form, motivated and as the captain of his national team. He injured himself against Chievo. In December I asked him for a meeting to discuss some questions about his contract, I wanted to discuss a distribution of his contract. He would make more, and would help the club lower the season cost which we had to do. He didn’t accept this meeting, but he had to do it since it was his obligation.”
And then you made it official in TV..
“I repeat, it was his obligation to have this meeting with us, but it was also our duty to make it official that we had to sell one of our best players due to economical problems. It was thanks to that statement that a correct and concrete club came with an offer, that is Galatasaray. They made both us and Wesley happy. We sold him for 7.5 million euros and at the end we earned a bit on the deal.”
Will you do the same with other players?
“Some of them have already sat down out our tables, some of them will.”
Mazzarri?
“We talk everyday.”
I assume you talk about players?
“We talk more about ideas for players, than names. We agree on everything, what players Inter need to become strong again. Then we hope to make Mazzarri happy with the names as well of course.”
If Paulinho a target?
“It is unnecessary to drop names right now. It is a player who interests us, but right now the important thing to think about is to reduce the team.”
What do you think about Stramaccioni?
“He did his best, unfortunately these are the things that could happen to the people who play this game.”
Have you already set your goal for the next season?
“We have no limits, but we don’t want to become obsessed with this or that position in the table. We want to become competetive again and the fact that we only have the cup and the league to play next season will help us.”
They say your relation with Moratti isn’t what it was before because of the last year?
“It let the people who want to talk do so. I don’t care about statements like these. I have done this job for 30 years between the field and the dektop, I know I am here today and that I could be gone by tomorrow. I always give everything for our team and I try to reach the targets that have been set for me. The critisizm should be based on concrete acts, not on sympathies or jealousy.”
One of the twelve questions from the Curva was: “Why do the players who leave Inter always speak well about Moratti, but bad about Inter?”
“Everyone who speaks bad when they leave talk about me, but for a while they forget all their smiles and gratitude when they signed their contracts with the club. With this said, Inter comes first and before all individuals. Education and respect is something that should never be missed.”
If I ask you about Livaja, Rocchi and Schelotto?
“We spent 300 000 euros for Rocchi and he did more than anyone expected him to. The deal for Livaja and Schelotto came after a precise demand from the coach who wanted an offensive wing player. We combined the need of playing time for one of our youngsters, with the need to lower the cost for Schelotto. Then unfortunately all the injuries came.”
Source: Fcinternews.it
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