Speaking on a recent episode of the Here We Go podcast, noted Italian football agent Patrick Bastianelli told Fabrizio Romano that he does not believe Tottenham Hostpur transfer target Milan Skriniar will leave Inter in the January transfer window.
Since arriving at Inter from Sampdoria in what was a £30.6 million deal back in 2017, Skriniar has gone on feature 130 times for I Nerazzurri, chipping in with four goals and providing four assists along the way.
Last season, the £45 million-rated 25-year-old averaged 1.2 tackles, 0.9 interceptions and 2.6 clearances, as well as averaging 62.4 passes per game over his 32 league appearances, culminating in an average WhoScored match rating of 6.61/10 – ranking him as Antonio Conte’s 20th-best player in the league.
While his statistics from last term are far from mindblowing, the defender’s performances have appeared to have caught the eye of Tottenham Hotspur and Jose Mourinho, as over the summer transfer window, it was reported that Spurs were interested in bringing the centre-back to north London.
However, as the transfer deadline passed, Skriniar remained an Inter player – although journalist Alasdair Gold claimed that the Slovakia international was keen on a move to Tottenham and that he would be surprised if the club did not make an enquiry about the defender in the January transfer window.
The situation of Skriniar was one topic of conversation on a recent episode of the Here We Go podcast, in which Bastianelli informed Romano that he does not think Inter would be open to the idea of letting the defender leave the club in January.
He said: “Skriniar, in my opinion, is really an important player and is already playing [at] a club that is [at] the top level, [qualifying for] the Champions League and fighting to win the Italian league. So, honestly – for the reason that [it] would be not easy for Inter to replace a player of his level – I’m not expecting that Skriniar can be transferred in the January market.
“In the summer, anything can happen – [for] the right price, [for] the right amount, all the players are on the market. But this has to happen at the right moment – if [you bid and] it is not the right moment, because [Inter] don’t have a player to replace him or Inter are fighting [to win Serie A], fighting in the Champions League, it will be not easy to replace this kind of player – especially in the January [transfer window].”
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TIF Thoughts on Patrick Bastianelli comments regarding the situation of Milan Skriniar…
From Bastianelli’s comments, it is clear that the agent does not feel that Inter would be very receptive to a bid for Skriniar in the January transfer window, as he believes that the club would struggle to replace a player of the defender’s quality in that particular market, which could then hamper the side’s domestic and European campaigns.
As such, the agent’s comments would appear to be bad news for fans of Tottenham who were hoping to see their club reignite their interest in the 25-year-old in January.