Former Empoli defender Francesco Pratali says playing for Inter Milan was a dream for childhood Nerazzurri fan Kristjan Asllani.
Speaking to Italian media outlet FCInterNews, the former defender explained that he has known Asllani since the Albanian was very young and that the player had long expressed his desire to play for Inter.
Last summer, Asllani left Empoli to join Inter.
This comes after the midfielder impressed with his performances for the Tuscan side in Serie A.
Asllani is not going through an easy time at Inter.
He has struggled to find playing time, which is perhaps not surprising given he is still young and relatively inexperienced at a club with so much experience.
There was some interest in Asllani during the summer transfer window.
But the 21-year-old player decided to stay at Inter.
And as Pratali explains, the reasons for this decision are partly personal, related to the player’s ambitions for the Nerazzurri in particular.
Former defender Pratali said, “Kristjan has always been a fan of Inter.
For him, wearing the Inter shirt represents his ultimate dream.
He went on to say about Asllani’s playing time: “At this level you need consistency.
“Otherwise it will be difficult.
I say this from personal experience.
He felt that “Currently, Kristjan lacks rhythm, he needs more playing time”.
“But if he waits, he will see that this season he will have more playing time than last season,” the former defender added.
“In fact, he even played in the Champions League with Real Sociedad,” he noted.
“But in this match, Inter did not play well as a team.
But this applies to everyone and we cannot blame any one individual.
”
“You cannot expect a young debutant to be assertive or do more than what he has done,” Pratali explains.
“If he gets more support from the whole team, he will play better.
But the whole team played poorly.
The former defender affirmed: “If he played against Empoli, he would definitely have played better.
“
Pratali said that “the truth is that he feels deeply connected to Inter.
“He wants to do everything he can to succeed in the Nerazzurri shirt.
That would be his dream and he would give everything for it.
And about the summer transfer window, Pratali said that “From what I understand, Fiorentina want to sign him outright.
“La Viola made a big offer to Inter.
It was a very fair offer, not that they wanted it at a bargain price but quite the opposite.
“But the Nerazzurri refused because they believed in this player.
They don’t want to lose control of him.