Lazar Samardzic says he has no regrets about missing out on a transfer to Inter Milan during the last summer transfer window.
Speaking to Cronache di Spogliatoio, via FCInterNews, the 22-year-old admitted that he was hurt by the rumours about his father being the reason for the collapse of his Nerazzurri move.
Samardzic had seemingly been, all but officially, an Inter player last summer.
The Serbian international had even underwent a medical ahead of the move in Milan.
But before Samardzic could sign his contract, unexpected events upended the move.
Inter abruptly pulled the plug on signing Samardzic after a disagreement with his father, who represented the player.
Reports suggested that new financial demands from the midfielder’s father at the eleventh hour angered Inter. The Nerazzurri felt that they had a full agreement and wouldn’t accept new negotiations.
Meanwhile, prominent football agent Rafaela Pimenta was also heavily involved in what proved to be a real soap opera.
When all was said and done, Samardzic remained at Udinese for this season.
Lazar Samardzic: “No Regrets” On Collapse Of Inter Transfer
Samardzic noted that “There were negotiations on a move to Inter for me. But then nothing came of it.”
“It was August,” he looked back.
“I remember it well. And there was nothing else to read.”
“When the first problems arose, I opened my phone and found that there were a lot of of insults in comments.”
“And every hour they increased. Every comment on my profile was about that.”
The 22-year-old recalled, “I immediately said to myself: ‘Laki. Calm down.'”
“It’s normal. Fans are people, and not all people are the same.'”
“I immediately promised myself that I would just look forward,” Samardzic said.
“That I would use all of these negative comments as a motivation to get even stronger.”
The Udinese midfielder then spoke about being hurt by “Those fans who cast my father in a negative light, who insulted him by saying that he only thought about money, that he was ruining my career.”
“Nothing could be further from the truth,” Samardzic said.
“We talked to each other a lot during those days,” he continued.
“And in the end, after all that chaos, I looked deep inside myself, and I understood that I didn’t have any kind of regrets about how the story went, about not joining Inter.”
Samardzic looked back, “When I was close to Inter, I wasn’t able to train for two weeks.”
“If there was one thing that really bothered me about the whole thing, it was that interruption to my preseason,” the former RB Leipzig midfielder said.
“Returning to Udine,” he said. “Having been out of action. Not having participated in training.”
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