Aspire in the World Fellows Book - 2023

/82 9TH ASPIRE ACADEMY GLOBAL SUMMIT Then, like a love story, this cycle finished. Did you try to prolong it? This was the proper end, after a long journey with trophies, success, and qualification to the Champions League. There were rumors that I could renew the contract in January but we didn’t reach an agreement, and then the proposal from Inter arrived. I accepted it with great enthusiasm, and I knewthat itwas the right time to change club. I arrived at a great club that won the Scudetto the previous season, but COVID caused several problems. I knew that I would train a team with some economic issues, and we were going to transfer out very important players. But I accepted without doubts because I was sure about the potential of the team. I accepted the high risk that then became a reality to lose key players like Hakimi, Lukaku, and Eriksen. The risk that Inter wouldn’t be able to achieve the results reached in the previous seasons was high, but there was the big European target. Inter hadn’t achieved the first group stage of the Champions League since 2010, but I knew that the potential of the club would be able to create a competitive team. In the last two seasons, we won 4 trophies and played a Champions League final. Last year, we could play a maximum of 57 games across all competitions, and Inter played 57. Were you concernedwhat peoplewould thinkmoving fromhere toMilan? I was calm; I trusted my work, and everyone has their own destiny. It was the time to change. I am super happy with the decision I made to test myself in a different context. Rome and Milan are similar in terms of pressure, and I was ready for it. Howdo youmanage the pressure to train themost popular club in Italy after Juventus, and howdo you avoid transferring the anxiety to the players? The players should play and not think about other aspects. In Inter, I am lucky to have players that have already played very important games, so they play all the games very calm. Regarding the pressure from outside, it’s part of the game, and we have amazing supporters that help us every game.