Marotta opens Inter door for Frattesi, laughs off Conte’s Napoli claim
Inter President Beppe Marotta leaves the door open for Davide Frattesi to exit, and laughs off Antonio Conte’s suggestion. ‘Napoli are clear favourites for the Scudetto.’
They visit Atalanta this evening, it kicks off at the New Balance Arena in Bergamo at 19.45 GMT (20.45 CET).
The Nerazzurri end 2025 without a single piece of silverware, as they faltered in the Supercoppa Italiana semi-final, losing the penalty shoot-out to Bologna following a 1-1 draw.
Nonetheless, they are top of the Serie A table and wish to consolidate that position this evening, so has this been a positive 2025?
Marotta sees strong Inter, but calls out Conte
“I am glad if fans see this as a positive year, it is a show of faith in the hard work of everyone at the club,” Marotta told DAZN Italia.
Conte said after Napoli’s 2-0 win away to Cremonese this evening that Inter, AC Milan and Juventus remained the only contenders for the Serie A title, as if anyone outside that group wins, it means something “extraordinary” has happened.
“I don’t want to get into controversy. I’ll just say that Conte is a good communicator, he is very good at distracting attention and refocusing it elsewhere,” smiled Marotta.
“I can comfortably say Napoli are the clear favourites for the Scudetto, because they are the reigning champions of Italy, they strengthened their squad over the summer with important investment, and are the only side in these four who maintained the same coach, giving them a sense of consistency.
“We modified our model, invested in some young players, I think it will be a challenge to the very end, but Napoli fully deserve to be the prime candidates to win the title again.”
Hakan Calhanoglu returns to the midfield after his muscular twinge against Liverpool, but the absentee list remains extensive with Ange-Yoan Bonny, Francesco Acerbi, Denzel Dumfries, Matteo Darmian, Tomas Palacios and Raffaele Di Gennaro.
Despite that, Frattesi still cannot get any playing time and Cristian Chivu seemed to hint at problems behind the scenes with the midfielder.
“I have to clarify that Frattesi’s discipline has been impeccable over the years. Clearly, a player who doesn’t get consistent time on the field has every right to think about alternatives. We don’t want to hold anyone back.
“Frattesi has not yet expressed any desire to move on, it is still early days, and we will have an opportunity to sit down and discuss the situation with him.”
Dumfries is going to be out for a couple of months following surgery, so Inter were linked with a swoop for Atalanta-owned Marco Palestra, currently on loan at Cagliari.
“It is reductive to think that a single player can affect the course of a campaign. At the same time, we will take nothing for granted, so we’ll evaluate what the transfer market can offer,” Marotta added when asked if Inter will sign a replacement for Dumfries.
“I can exclude the story that Palestra is a target, because he is not our player, he belongs to someone else, and there is no path to him. We will look at the market, but know there aren’t many opportunities available in January.”