The nucleus of the squad starts with the captain: Lautaro gets a raise and a salary of 7,000,000

The view of the table when going to the international team break is not what Inter Milan had hoped for. The first place was given up, and it was grabbed by the archenemy - AC Milan. Two failures in the last three rounds (defeat against Sassuolo, then a draw with Bologna) contributed to the change at the top, but this does not overly worry director Giuseppe Marotta. The championship is a marathon, a long-distance race, and before the decision is made about how the scudetto will end, the Nerazzurri want to put an end to several important topics.

The topics are extensions of the contracts with the squad's main men. Inter have already started the extention talks with Federico Dimarco and Denzel Dumfries, players who operate on the left and right flanks, and according to the new plan, they should earn 4,000,000 euros per year. Henrikh Mkhitaryan is also listed as an urgent matter, whose contract expires upon season's completion and he would be in the same pay grade with the mentioned duo, and when those jobs come to an end, it will be the turn of the two "golden geese". The club wants to start negotiations with Nicolo Barella and captain Lautaro Martinez around Christmas.

The Argentinian forward received the captain's armband, which further motivated him and contributed to his even better statistics. He scored 11 goals in ten matches, and recently his agent said that Inter should not worry, because Lautaro Martinez is only thinking about staying at Giuseppe Meazza. According to Gazzetta dello Sport, his income will be slightly increased, he will earn 7,000,000 euros and in this way the Nerazzurri will "close" one position in the attack. They could have closed another one if they had more understanding in the club in the recent past.

Giuseppe Marotta was asked which transfer impressed him the most, and he answered straight away - Jude Bellingham. But he also revealed which player makes his soul hurt that he is not at Inter, and could have been.

"Bellingham is a very good football player, because above all he represents the future of football. I regret that we did not take Haaland when they suggested him to us", said the Inter director.

Inter had a killer tandem, consisting of Lautaro Martinez and Romelu Lukaku. They led the club to the Italian championship title, the Belgian then left for Chelsea in a transfer worth €100,000,000, returned on loan when things went wrong, entered into talks with the club about a permanent return this summer and suddenly stopped responding.

He "stabbed the fans in the back", they labeled him a traitor and 50,000 of them will blow the whistle every time he is near the ball when Nerazzurri face the Wolfess. Roma will host Inter at the end of October, and Giuseppe Marotta does not believe that the situation will escalate.

"Emotion can be positive and negative, just like a feeling. In our sport, there is a deity called money. As for Lukaku, he is a part of our recent past that I don't want to go into, because there is a present and a future. I heard that 50,000 people will be waiting for him and they will blow their whistles, it is a situation that needs to be managed, but for people like me who have seen a lot of matches, such things are not scary".

He touched on the current state of the standings, but also made a comparison between the Champions League and Serie A, and which trophy would make him happier.

"Now it is better to be a hunter than a rabbit. We have a quality squad that Inzaghi can manage in the best possible way. I think this is my best Inter", said Giuseppe Marotta and added:

"Winning the Champions League would create incredible emotions for all Inter fans. But realistically speaking, I think it is very difficult to achieve. Getting to the Scudetto means being the best in a stage race where the strongest wins. While other factors are important in the Champions League, the strongest does not always win. So I'm in favor of the scudetto".

Lukaku: 'A lot of bull**it has been published about me'

Finally, he compared the rivalry with AC Milan and Juventus...

"Winning creates a great feeling in you. We are talking about two top opponents. We are playing a city derby with Milan, winning it hold special gravitas. The derby with Juventus is equally historically important for the club. Let's say it depends on the moment. This season we have already beaten Milan, so it is time to beat Juventus".