Marotta: 'Conte and Pogba masterpieces'

By Football Italia staff

Beppe Marotta believes Antonio Conte is “Inter’s real top player” and explains why Juventus completed a transfer masterpiece for Paul Pogba.

The former Bianconeri director took on a new role at Inter this year and sat down with La Gazzetta dello Sport magazine SportWeek to analyse his career.

“A great Inter is taking shape. People always say the squad is a reflection of the club, and there is now a solid ownership behind Inter with long-term vision. The team will follow that pattern.

“Along with all that, Antonio Conte is Inter’s real top player.”

Marotta was asked about his career transfer masterpiece, so inevitably looked to the double Pogba deal.

“I think my best deal was Pogba at Juve. We picked him up from Manchester United for free and then sold him back to United for €115m.

“The worst was when I was with Atalanta, as in 2001 we sold Cristian Zenoni and Massimo Donati to Milan for 45m lire plus Gianni Comandini, who was valued at 15m lire. I expected so much from Comandini, but he didn’t deliver.

“The rules to a good transfer deal is to be transparent and at the same time smart. You mustn’t take anyone for a ride, or pretend there’s quality where there really isn’t. You are allowed some little white lies or omissions, if they are for the greater good.

“A handshake is no longer enough to guarantee a deal, because in the old days you could trust that the unreliable figures had been isolated and rooted out quickly.”

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