Inter Milan chairman slams £47m Chelsea signing after 'reneging' on transfer

Giuseppe Marotta is less than impressed with Chelsea’s new signing (Photo: Getty)

Inter Milan

chairman Giuseppe Marotta slammed Marco Palestra after the new

Chelsea

signing ‘reneged’ on an agreement to join the Serie A giants.

Palestra looked all set to re-join boyhood club Inter after they agreed a £43million deal with Atalanta, only for Chelsea to hijack the transfer at

Xabi Alonso

’s request.

The full-back’s move to Stamford Bridge was confirmed two weeks ago, with the £47m signing penning a seven-year contract.

Inter were desperate to buy back their former player after selling Denzel Dumfries to

Real Madrid

but were unable to compete with the Premier League club, who it is said offered a much larger wage package.

Marotta has since confirmed that the 21-year-old had ‘verbally committed’ to moving back to the San Siro and the finer details of his contract were being worked on

when the Blues swooped in

.

Speaking in a press conference on Monday to officially mark the start of the 2026/27 season, the Inter CEO dismissed Palestra’s decision to join Chelsea as a ‘lifestyle choice’ and slammed his agent’s role in the debacle.

‘We need to control costs, not investments. And I’m referring to the players, who perhaps earn too much even if they’re free,’ Marotta said, as quoted by

Goal.com

Chelsea have paid £47m for Marco Palestra (Photo: Getty)

‘And then also the agents, who are increasingly important in the fate of football clubs. These situations are sometimes disproportionate.

‘The Palestra case is the result of a change of heart on the part of the player, who reneged on a verbal commitment made the previous month.

‘His agent played an even more significant role in indicating the path the player should take. And so we had to give in, and the player went to a league against which we’re not competitive with

Xabi Alonso urged Chelsea to swoop in for the defender (Photo: Getty)

‘We already had an agreement with Atalanta for Palestra. It’s not that we pulled out of an agreement, let’s say the player made a lifestyle choice.

‘I’ve already expressed my opinion on the player and the agent, it’s not that Atalanta dealt differently.’

Meanwhile in west London, Alonso could not be happier with the acquisition of the

Italy

international.

‘He has many great qualities for modern football,’ the new Chelsea manager said during his first official press conference on Monday.

‘He can play in a back-four or a back-five, on the left. We need to keep working with him to adapt to the

Premier League

‘He has a great mentality in terms of competitiveness and his hunger.’

Chelsea kick-off the new season with a trip to local rivals

Fulham

on August 24.

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