Simone Inzaghi Promises Inter To Stay Strong And Competitive

Simone Inzaghi (Twitter @inter_en)

JAKARTA - Simone Inzaghi has set an ambitious target in his first season as Inter Milan manager, which is to keep Inter Milan's Scudetto title in the Italian Serie A while improving performances in European competitions.

Last month, Inzaghi signed a two-year contract to replace Antonio Conte who parted ways with the Nerazzurri due to disagreements over the club's management plans to sell star players at the urging of the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

One of them is by selling full-back Achraf Hakimi, who recently moved to Paris Saint-Germain for a reported price of around 60 million euros.

Inzaghi admitted that he knew Hakimi would be sold by Inter when he received a job offer from the defending Italian champions.

"I am aware of the planned sale of Hakimi but I have also been informed that other important players will remain at Inter," Inzaghi told a news conference.

"We knew we had to make some signings. In my style of football, full-backs play an important role and we don't have Ashley Young or Hakimi anymore.

"It was a difficult decision for everyone. I was informed of Hakimi's departure, but the club promised we would remain strong and competitive," he added.

| #WELCOMESIMONE #Inzaghi's #Inter tenure starts here! #IMInter pic.twitter.com/iI8zzdiqWq

— Inter (@Inter_en) July 7, 2021

Inzaghi arrived with one Coppa Italia trophy and two Italian Super Cup victories in his five years in charge of Lazio, with whom he has relatively successfully restored his reputation including reaching the last 16 of the Champions League last season after a 13-year absence from the competition.

However, Inzaghi faces a big challenge, namely continuing the work of Conte, who managed to end his Scudetto drought but for two years in a row always failed to qualify from the Champions League group stage.

"We have an obligation to defend the Scudetto shield on our chest. There are many teams that are more complete, but we will try our best to defend the title," said Inzaghi.

"I want to have a team that is intense and always focused on the game. A team that reacts to every moment of the game. At Lazio, we scored a lot of goals in injury time.

"In the past, my teams have always played well and scored a lot of goals. I hope to entertain the tifosi in Milan too.

"We know something has to change, we want to have a better Champions League season, because I know Inter since 2011 have failed to make it to the knockout stages," he concluded.