Inter Milan CEO Giuseppe Marotta has shot down reports that Arsenal have spoken to them about Pio Esposito, insisting the club don’t want to sell.
Earlier this week, Roberto Maida reported for Italian outlet Gazzetta that Arsenal were impressed by Inter Milan’s Pio Esposito during the recent match between the two clubs, with Mikel Arteta telling Andrea Berta to make enquiries about the young striker.
According to the claims, Berta then quickly contacted Inter Milan sporting director Piero Ausilio to find out more, asking for details about price and the player’s availability.
The article concluded that Inter made it clear Esposito is not available and has a long contract, but Inter CEO Giuseppe Marotta has denied that Arsenal ever made contact over the player in the first place.
“Arsenal haven’t asked us about him,” Marotta insisted. “Inter do not want to sell him and we are not a club that makes player trading its main business.
“He’s a product that grew up in the youth academy, and we’re guarding him like a treasure.
“We’ll talk about his transfer again in the future, but it’ll be a very distant future.”
At just 20 years old with a contract until 2030, it’s not surprising Inter are so keen to hold onto Esposito for a while longer.
The young striker has seven goals and six assists in a little over 1,600 minutes this season, a rate of one goal contribution every 126 minutes on average.
But more importantly, it doesn’t seem as though Arsenal ever actually made contact over the player to begin with. A transfer in the near future is looking very unlikely as it stands.