'Inter could've signed Gabriel Jesus...'

By Football Italia staff

Inter sporting director Piero Ausilio reveals his club almost signed Gabriel Jesus. “Our offer was better than Manchester City’s.”

Gabriel Jesus was regularly compared to Gabriel Barbosa when the pair were climbing the ranks in Brazilian football, yet the former has flourished for City since arriving from Palmeiras in January 2017, whereas Gabigol recently left Inter for a second spell back home.

“We were negotiating with Gabriel Jesus for a month,” Ausilio told Sky Sport Italia.

“Our offer was also better than Manchester City’s. Palmeiras preferred to sell him to us but the lad, through his agents, let us know that he preferred to play for Guardiola.”

Ausilio then discussed the Nerazzurri’s controversial sale of Mateo Kovacic to Real Madrid in the summer of 2015.

“Unlike Coutinho, Kovacic was sacrificed for financial reasons as we were in a difficult situation at the time, but we sold him for a good price.

“The figure? A tad less than €40m. There were a series of bonuses that Inter then collected, given Real Madrid won everything in his first season there.

“During the 2016 Champions League Final in Milan, we were all rooting for Real. We were Blancos fans for a night.”

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