Man Utd boosted in push to sign Inter colossus Conte is desperate to sign as Beppe Marotta points angry finger

Inter Milan will reportedly be backed into a corner over the sale of Milan Skriniar in the January window – with reports in Italy claiming Manchester United are ready to rival Tottenham for his signature.

The Slovakian defender is widely regarded as one of the finest in Serie A. He has been a colossus in the Nerazzruri’s rearguard ever since signing in 2017 in a bargain move from Sampdoria. But with just under eight months remaining on his deal, his time at the 2021 Serie A champions may be soon coming to an end.

Indeed, Skriniar has long since been coveted by a string of Europe’s big-hitting sides. Manchester United have a long-standing interest in the 27-year-old. And recent reports have raised the possibility of the Red Devils offering one of two stars in a swap deal for Skriniar.

That said, Skriniar also has long-time admirers in Tottenham boss Antonio Conte too. He knows Skriniar well from his time in charge at the San Siro; the player a big part of the Conte side that ended Juventus’ long-running domination of Serie A.

As such, the Spurs boss would not hestitate to reunite with Skriniar at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium were the opportunity to arise.

There is interest from elsewhere, though, too. Paris Saint-German are also big admirers of the defender and came closer than anyone to prising him away from Inter over the summer.

Now, according to Tuttosport, Inter are becoming increasingly vulnerable to losing the player in January. With talks over an extension unlikely to see a positive conclusion, they are ready to cash in on while they can in the winter window.

Bargain price tag emerges for Milan Skriniar

As such, they suggest a fee of between £17.6m (€20m) and £22m (€25m) will be enough to tempt Inter to sell. The Serie A giants would ideally like to keep Skriniar until the end of the season, even at the risk of losing him on a free.

However, their financial issues means they will reportedly have to accept an offer for him in January. And financial concerns at Inter – they reportedly have to sell some prized assets in order to fall in line with FFP – makes them especially vulnerable.

However, due to his contract situation, he’s the most saleable asset in their ranks. And the suggestion is that his sale now may prevent the loss of their other prized talents such as Denzel Dumfries, Alessandro Bastoni and Nicolo Barella.

With his prospective sale starting to gather momentum in Italy, reports suggest his next destination may well prove to be the Premier League.

Nonetheless, the situation has not gone down well with Inter CEO Beppe Marotta. He feels the authorities should have changed the rules around the January transfer window in light of the mid-season World Cup.

“It’s annoying to see how these things disrupt, I say that the players are professionals but at the same time they’re very young and they’re being put under this kind of pressure,” Marotta said.

“It would be better to reduce the transfer window but this is an unusual season with the World Cup in the middle. Skriniar is a certainty for our team.”

Inter still desperate to keep defensive lynchpin

Inter, however, do still retain some hope of keeping Skriniar beyond the end of his current deal.

Per Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio, Marotta will make one final push to tie Milan Skriniar down to fresh terms.

And he reckons they are preparing to make Skriniar their highest earning player in a fresh push to convince him to stay.

“The offer will be for around €6m-€6.5m (£5.3m-£5.7m) net per season,” Di Marzio said. “And if the player asks for what PSG (Paris Saint-Germain) offered him in the summer, it’s clear that no agreement can be found.”

Despite uncertainty around his future, Skriniar is an ever-present for Inter this season.

And the 27-year-old star has clocked up 228 appearances for the club in all competitions during his time at the club, scoring 11 times.

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