Massimo Moratti discussed his 18 years at Inter, why he sold to Erick Thohir and “never intended to be President forever.”
The patron has agreed to sell 70 per cent of his shares to Indonesian investor Thohir and sat down with Sette to look back over this experience.
Massimo Moratti discussed his 18 years at Inter, why he sold to Erick Thohir and “never intended to be President forever.”
The patron has agreed to sell 70 per cent of his shares to Indonesian investor Thohir and sat down with Sette to look back over this experience.
“Inter has always been just passion for all of us. My father Angelo Moratti told me in 1980 that an experience in football would help me to grow, to suffer and to improve.
“In 2011, after the Coppa Italia, I thought the time had come to take a sideways step, to find new solutions for the club. I sought a solution that would open up new markets. It was the right thing to do and I never intended to be President of Inter forever.”
Moratti’s first buy was Javier Zanetti, who is still in the team aged 40 even after snapping his Achilles tendon.
“He was the first player I saw and who I chose. I had not yet completed the takeover of Inter when I received a tape of Argentina’s Under-20 squad to view Ariel Ortega. He didn’t impress me, but strangely I was enchanted by a full-back doing things I’d never seen.
“We signed him and he’s still with us. Now I have discovered he hails from the planet Krypton and will play for another four or five years,” joked Moratti about his own personal Superman.
“I bought Ronaldo because he was very strong, but also because nobody thought it was possible for us to get him, seeing as he played for Barcelona.
“It was a great deal. Ronaldo was expensive, but five years later we sold him for double that sum to Real Madrid and he opened Inter’s image up to the world.”