Keita: ‘Inter have to sign me’

By Football Italia staff

Keita Baldé Diao admits “you’ve yet to see my best” at Inter, but they have to sign him outright as “they’d be getting a bargain”.

The forward joined the Nerazzurri on loan from Monaco in the summer, with an option to buy set at around €30m.

“I imagined this to be a great club, and since I’ve been here that’s what I’ve found,” Keita told Tuttosport.

“Since I was a child I’ve followed the matches of the two Milanese clubs. My dad really liked Milan’s Dutch trio, but I was more interested in Adriano, [Obafemi] Martins and [Zlatan] Ibrahimovic.

“I always played as the Nerazzurri on the PlayStation, and then my idol [Samuel] Eto’o arrived too. I’m proud to be here and proud the Coach wanted me.

“The Coach has clear ideas and knows what he’s doing.

“You’ve yet to see my best, let’s say I’m at 60-70 per cent now. Inter have to sign me outright because they’d be getting a bargain. I’m as enthusiastic as our President and I want to help the team grow.”

The Beneamata have been eliminated from the Champions League, and the Scudetto is surely out of sight with Juventus 16 points clear.

“The Europa League isn’t a competition to be dismissed, it’s a very important competition.

“After the Champions League elimination, as a club and a team, we have to aim to win the trophy.

“In the league we don’t have a fixed objective, we definitely need to improve and try to stay in the top three until May.

“Juventus are a very strong club and their squad is just as good. We know that, but Inter have those things too.

“They’ve been winning for so many years though, and that’s increased their mentality. And in Italy now you’re used to making them Campioni d’Italia in December. The league is still open though, because there’s a long way to go.

“Honestly I don’t understand this smoke that surrounds every discussion about Juventus, the comments of fans or insiders about them being unbeatable.

“We had the opportunity to score twice [in Turin] before they did, and if we’d taken the lead it’d have been hard for them.

“We respect their strength, but I think they respect ours too and they’re not unbeatable.”

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