[ad_1]
Inter Milan manager Antonio Conte says midfielder Christian Eriksen is going nowhere this month after scoring a magnificent free kick against his rival AC Milan.
Eriksen has been with the Italian giants for less than a year, but has been unable to replicate their dazzling midfield performances from his Tottenham days, and has been heavily linked with a return to North London.
Arsenal has been discussed, while PSG is said to be interested in a move that would reunite it with former boss Mauricio Pochettino. But Conte has poured cold water on reports that Eriksen is drifting away from San Siro, insisting there will be no back and forth in the January transfer window.
Inter defeated local rivals AC on Tuesday night after a 2-1 victory in the Coppa Italia, with Eriksen shooting an excellent set piece in the 97th minute to clinch the victory.
When asked about the possibility of Eriksen leaving after his performance, Conte told RAI Sport: ‘For a month I have been saying the same thing: this is Inter’s squad. No one will come, no one will go. I keep saying it and nobody seems to believe me.
‘We are working with Eriksen on a tactical level to find an alternative to [Marcelo] Brozovic, because we don’t have someone like that on the squad.
“Christian is a very intelligent boy, he has quality, he is part of the project and I am happy that he scored that goal. I really wanted him to accept it, as we all know the quality he has in set pieces. ‘
Conte urged the 28-year-old to use his goal as motivation to start his career at Inter, saying he needed to ‘come out of his shell’ and be ‘more determined’.
“He is very shy so I hope this goal will shake him up and make him come out of his shell. We all like him, he’s a good boy, maybe too good! He needs to be more determined. ‘
Eriksen asked to leave Tottenham last January after six years in North London, stressing the need to experience ‘something new’, but after Real Madrid’s interest cooled, Inter emerged as the main suitor for his signature, and signed him for around £ 16 million with his contract running out.
But while he was one of the key men at Spurs, he has found life difficult in Serie A, playing just 40 times and scoring four goals. It has also been a target for PSG, where its former boss Mauricio Pochettino has just taken over.
Conte’s words come after the club’s chief executive, Giuseppe Giuseppe Marotta, confirmed last month that Eriksen was on the transfer list and claimed that he was “not functional” for the team this season.
He said: ‘Eriksen is on the transfer list, Piero Ausilio confirmed. It has been difficult for him to adapt to the team, it is not functional for the team. That is not an insult to your professionalism, there is no punishment.
“It’s just a situation that has developed and it’s only fair that he go where he can play more regularly.”
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
[ad_2]
