CM: How Inter managed to beat Milan to the signing of Thuram – the background

One player who will have a huge amount to prove on Saturday when AC Milan and Inter do battle at San Siro is the Nerazzurri’s Marcus Thuram.

As highlighted by Calciomercato.com, the French forward could just have easily ended up being a Milan player this season, but now he is enjoying a very strong start to the season under Simone Inzaghi with three assists and one goal.

Thuram wanted to be central to the project at his next club which is why he turned down the riches of PSG. One offer of interest was Milan, with Geoffrey Moncada having regular contact with the striker’s father, Lillian Thuram.

There was a basic agreement in June for a five-year contract at €4.5m per season.

Inter had previously been very close to signing Thuram but after choosing to stick with Edin Dzeko and Romelu Lukaku, the idea cooled. Then Dzeko left for Fenerbache and Lukaku seemingly burned his bridges, so Inter were back in the frame.

The Nerazzurri then offered €1.5m more per season than Milan were offering, which was enough to clinch the deal for a player who wanted to get through the door at his new club early in the summer.