Veteran duo left out of Inter squad for pre-season
Milan not interested in Julio Cesar
Brazilian goalkeeper Julio Cesar and Serbian midfielder Dejan Stankovic, 34, have been left out of Inter’s pre-season squad.
Cesar, 32, has been strongly linked with a move away from Inter after six years at the club, with Manchester United and Roma reportedly keen to acquire the Brazil international’s services.
Stankovic, who has been linked with West Ham United, has one year left on his contract after eight seasons with the Nerazzurri.
Meanwhile, Slovenian goalkeeper Samir Handanovic has been named in the squad after the 27-year-old completed his permanent transfer from Udinese this week.
Handanovic is set to take Cesar’s place as Inter’s number one and will join the team in training on July 8.
Defender Matias Silvestre has also been included in coach Andrea Stramaccioni’s 26-man squad after joining from Palermo this week.
The Argentine completed his transfer yesterday in a deal worth an estimated eight million euros.
The 27-year-old will replace Juventus-bound Brazilian Lucio in northern Italy.
Silvestre is reported to have signed a two-year loan deal with Inter worth two million euros with an option to buy fixed at six million euros, according to the Italian press.
He becomes Inter’s third recruit for the new season after Argentina striker Rodrigo Palacio (Genoa) and Handanovic.
Brazilian defender Maicon, who is a reported target of Chelsea and Real Madrid, will join Inter in training on July 9.
As expected, Diego Forlan has been left out of the squad with the Uruguay striker terminating his contract with Inter with immediate effect.
Forlan joined from Atletico Madrid last summer but endured a frustrating injury-plagued campaign. The 33-year-old was yesterday reported to have joined Brazilian side Internacional.
Elsewhere, Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani has brushed aside reports claiming his club is interested in signing Julio Cesar.
Reports in Italy claim Milan have joined in the race to sign the Brazil international but Galliani said: “He (Julio Cesar) is a very good goalkeeper but we are not interested in him.
“We already have three goalkeepers and we are fine as we are.
“We recently signed Gabriel, a young Brazilian goalkeeper.”