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Mancini denies Inter have 'transfer list', 'has nothing against Ranocchia'
“I’ve spoken to [Erick] Thohir about transfers, we’ll see what the situation is in six weeks’ time.
"We haven’t made any transfer list whatsoever.
“Santon can do more, but he isn’t on such a list”.
Il Mancio went on to talk about last year’s captain, Andrea Ranocchia, who has found himself riding the bench since the arrivals of Miranda and Jeison Murillo.
“Andrea’s played well, he’s an excellent player. Sincerely, I hope to always play him, I have nothing against Andrea”.
Another reported misfit, Adem Ljajic, was subjected to what seems to be veiled criticism.
“We picked Ljajic because we believe he has extraordinary skills, but they need to be combined with other things.
"He can be very useful to us, but he isn’t 100%, we’ll have to make a decision tomorrow”.
The former Manchester City and Fiorentina coach, currently in his second stint with the Nerazzurri, also spoke of Mauro Icardi’s recent form. Having hit the ground running this year, the Barcelona youth product hasn’t scored in two games.
“I expect Icardi to score. He’s always scored many, and will keep doing it. He’ll drag the team by the scruff of the beck.
"I’m not worried, we have a centre forward who will keep scoring, it happens that strikers don’t get clean passes, but Icardi will get back to scoring ways soon”.
Il Mancio also had some encouraging words for Inter fans looking for a creative player in midfield, claiming both Jovetic and Perisic had what it took to make a difference. Geoffrey Kondogbia was also mentioned.
The former Monaco man hasn’t been his dominant self this week, though he looked better in the Nerazzurri’s 1-0 win over rivals AC Milan in this week’s Luigi Berlusconi Trophy- a friendly names after the Milan owner’s late father.
“Jovetic can do what a trequartista does, he made 4-5 plays worthy of a champion on Sunday. Perisic, could, too, but he has a different skillset”.
“Kondogbia has been on the bench for one game, it’s been the same for many others. He played well on Wednesday, but if he plays it won’t be because he did well in a friendly, but because we think he’s a great player”.