The friendly between Valletta and Inter is in jeopardy, sources close to the negotiations have told The Times.

On Monday, Victor Sciriha, the Valletta FC president, announced that the Malta champions had lined up a lucrative warm-up against the Serie A giants but until yesterday evening, the two parties had not signed the contract, raising serious doubts as to whether the friendly would go ahead.

It has emerged that an Italian agency that organises friendly matches on behalf of Inter sounded out a Maltese contact about the possibility of staging Inter’s final pre-season warm-up in Malta on August 21.

After Valletta confirmed their readiness to host Inter, the two negotiating parties all but agreed financial terms over the friendly but it appears that the Coppa Italia winners are having second thoughts about the idea of playing their final pre-season match here.

Technical issues have been cited as the reason behind Inter’s reluctance to wrap up their pre-season preparations with a friendly in Malta.

At the time of writing, Valletta and their agent were still awaiting a written reply from Inter’s representatives on the matter.