Inter Milan sporting director Piero Ausilio has revealed that his club twice tried to secure the services of Manchester City forward Stevan Jovetic, but were unable to lure him back to Serie A.
Jovetic landed at the Etihad Stadium in the summer of 2013 from Italian giants Fiorentina, but he has been unable to secure a starting spot in Manuel Pellegrini’s team, mostly staying on the fringes of first team action.
In his 17 Premier League appearances this season so far, of which only nine have come as a starter, the Montenegro international has scored five goals and assisted a further three for the Citizens’ cause.
Alvaro Negredo, one of Pellegrini’s striking options last term, suffered an injury thereby making it difficult for Manchester City to sell Jovetic and further reduce their options up front. And the 25-year-old also put his foot down on a possible move, choosing to fight his way into the Citizens’ first team.
“We were so close to Jovetic”, Ausilio explained to Sky Italia.
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“Not just last summer, but in January, too.
“We pushed hard to get him, but then an injury to Negredo and the wish of the player to remain at City made the negotiations very difficult."
Ausilio further added that they aren’t averse to taking the Montenegrin to the San Siro in the future, but conceded that it will be difficult to prise him away from a club of Manchester City’s wealth.
“I honestly had great hope, Jovetic is a player that we still like a lot but there's a problem.
“He is a City player and it's a very rich club.”
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