Inter Milan director Piero Ausilio cannot understand the speculation surrounding Stefan de Vrij, speaking to Sky Italia amid claims that the defender has been offered to Premier League giants Everton, Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United.
The reigning Serie A champions have a number of players who will become free-agents in the summer of 2022.
De Vrij, however, is not one of them.
The Dutch international centre-half has another 18 months or so left on his deal.
And, as Ausilio points out, contract talks with the likes of Marcelo Brozovic, Ivan Perisic, Matias Vecino and Arturo Vidal – all of whom are due to depart in July – are far more pressing.
The Northern Echo reported a fortnight ago that De Vrij’s agent has been in touch with a trio of Premier League clubs ahead of the January transfer window.
Everton, Newcastle and Spurs have allegedly been offered the chance to bring De Vrij – named Serie A’s Defender of the Year in 2020 – to English soil.
Is Stefan de Vrij heading to the Premier League?
“Renewals? We have concluded three important agreements with (Alessandro) Bastoni, Lautaro (Martinez) and (Nicolo) Barella,” explains Ausilio, via Calciomercato.
“Now we are talking with Brozovic. Soon we will also do it with Perisic and (Samir) Handanovic.
(Federico) Dimarco on the home straight? Not yet, but we are discussing and both sides have expressed their willingness to continue together.
“De Vrij? I don’t understand why we talk about him so much. He still has a year and a half on his contract.”
According to The Echo, it is De Vrij’s representatives – rather than anyone working on behalf of Inter Milan – who have offered the 29-year-old to Everton, Newcastle and Spurs.
The former Feyenoord and Lazio ace, who Inter value at around £35 million, was one of the pillars of a Nerazzuri side who won their first Scudetto title in a decade under now-Tottenham boss Antonio Conte last term.
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