The Nerazzurri president: “Conte is a good communicator, but his team are the favorites.” And on the transfer market: “We’re not holding anyone back, but Frattesi has never expressed any intention of leaving.”

The usual back-and-forth between Antonio Conte and Beppe Marotta. After the afternoon’s victory over Cremonese, the Italian coach said: “Napoli is not yet in a position to lead for many reasons. We have just started on a journey and we are not ready in terms of structure. Juventus, Milan, and Inter are different in terms of structure, second teams, payroll, and asset value. If another team wins over these three, they have done something extraordinary. You can’t bury your head in the sand if there is a difference, then you try to make up for that difference on the pitch, but we are talking about different realities.”

Here is Marotta’s response to DAZN before the match against Atalanta. “I don’t want to get into an argument. Conte is a good coach and a good communicator. He knows how to distract attention and communicate. Napoli is clearly the favorite. They are the reigning champions, have invested significant money, and have technical continuity. They are the only team that has not changed coaches. We have changed our model and invested in young players. We will fight to the end, but I believe that Napoli, for reasons of merit, is the serious contender for the final victory.“ Marotta then spoke about Frattesi: ”We don’t want to hold anyone back. However, this is not the case with Frattesi because he has not expressed any intention of leaving. We will have the opportunity to discuss this with him.“ He concluded by ruling out a possible arrival of Palestra: ”I can rule out Palestra as a target for us. He is an Atalanta player: there is no point in pursuing avenues that lead nowhere. We know that it is a poor transfer market, where there are not many opportunities, but Inter and the other clubs have an obligation to see if they can add something to this team.”