Inter Milan boss Simone Inzaghi has confirmed he has stripped Milan Skriniar of the club’s captaincy. He has acted after the Liverpool target agreed a transfer to Paris Saint-Germain.
Samir Handanovic has now assumed the position of skipper at San Siro ahead of the derby against AC Milan. The Nerazzurri and Rossoneri clash in Serie A on Sunday and Skriniar will likely still feature. He has sat out some training sessions this week as PSG targeted a move.
Marcelo Brozovic and Lautaro Martinez will serve as Inzaghi’s vice-captains as Skriniar falls out of contention. Inzaghi promoted the defender into the lead role ahead of Handanovic, who is their official captain, this season. Skriniar held the armband full-time from October.
Skriniar confirms his transfer agreement with PSG over interest from Liverpool
Inzaghi no longer feels Skriniar warrants the role having admitted to having a pre-contract to join Paris Saint-Germain. Fabrizio Romano reported in January that the 27-year-old had reached a full agreement with the Ligue 1 giants over a Bosman move to France on July 1.
“Yes, it’s true,” Skriniar admitted, via quotes by Football Italia. “But I cannot give any more details right now. I am waiting for the two clubs to reach an agreement [to go in January].”
Skriniar is out of contract with Inter Milan on June 30 and has accepted a transfer to Paris Saint-Germain over interest from Liverpool. 90min reported the Reds sounded out a move in January following Virgil van Dijk’s injury. Inter Live added they would even pay €30m (£27m).
Paris Saint-Germain held talks with Inter Milan to bring Skriniar’s free transfer forward to the January sales. FC Inter 1908 reported that PSG offered €10m (£9m) and increased their bid to €12-13m (£11-11.5m). But San Siro chiefs did not let him go for less than €20m (£18m).
Inzaghi states Skriniar is no longer his captain ahead of joining Paris Saint-Germain
Liverpool always trailed in a transfer race for Skriniar once he agreed to leave Inter Milan for Paris Saint-Germain. Now, his decision to move to France has also cost him the captaincy. Inzaghi has stated Handanovic’s return to the role with Brozovic and Martinez’s elevations.
“As far as Skriniar is concerned, I don’t judge his choices,” Inzaghi has stated, via quotes by Gianluca Di Marzio. “But I judge the man and the player.
“He is a splendid boy, he works very well every day. There are some training sessions missing but he will most likely be in the match. As far as the captain’s armband is concerned, we have hierarchies based on attendance.
“Because of what happened Skriniar will no longer be the captain. But he has talked about it calmly with the club and the boy. The captain is Handanovic, then there are also others like Brozovic [and] Lautaro.”
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