Massimo Moratti has revealed that he tried to sign Eric Cantona, but failed after the Frenchman’s famous Kung Fu kick against Crystal Palace.
The oil tycoon was president of the Italian club between the years of 1995 and 2013, during which time he signed some of football’s biggest names, including Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos and more.
However, Moratti has discussed how he missed out on various other top class players, mentioning the likes of Roberto Mancini and Eric Cantona.
“The first idea that I had after buying the club was taking both Cantona and Mancini,” he told the Corriere della Sera.
“Then Cantona ended that in my presence in London with that Kung Fu kick on a Crystal Palace fan and he decided to stay in Manchester.
“Mancini, meanwhile, was considered non-transferable by Sampdoria.
“I actually tried to sign him twice. At the end of October 1996, it was a done deal.
“But then Enrico Mantovani explained to me that there would have been an uprising among the Sampdoria fans, so I pulled out.
“[Mancini and Cantona] would have been a fantastic partnership, though, one worth of Inter’s proud tradition.”
Moratti then went on to add that he still felt unhappy at not being able to persuade Francesco Totti to leave Roma.
“I was in Rome with president Sensi in 2007 when we were closing in on a deal for Chivu and I put it out there: ‘If you want to throw in Totti, you just have to give me a number’.
“But he didn’t even give it a second thought. He replied, ‘No, Totti stays here. I will never sell him’.
“And he was right. Totti would have won a treble with us because he’s an extraordinary player: nasty on the field when you go up against him, but so nice before and after the game.”