Leicester Summer Target Francesco Acerbi Reveals He Was Set for Inter Move During the Window

Sassuolo defender Francesco Acerbi was a reported target for Leicester City during the summer, but the Italian has revealed that he was much closer to a move to Internazionale.

The Foxes were said to have put in a bid of £12m for the player back in July, an offer which was rejected by the Serie A side.

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Now speaking to Gazzetta dello Sport (via talkSPORT), the 29-year-old insisted that he was all set to move to Inter before talks broke down.

"I had decided to leave Sassuolo and Inter seemed all done, but the situation got complicated and I did not understand why," Acerbi said. "Then came the deals of Zenit [St Petersburg] and Galatasaray.

"I would not have made war at Sassuolo. In the end I decided to stay and I'm happy.

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Acerbi admitted that he was left disappointed by the failed move, but now has more motivation to improve even further and attract more suitors in future.

"Of course, when I see Inter on TV, I tell myself: 'I should be there.' But this also gives me a further motivation. I want to play very well with Sassuolo to deserve a great club."

The player's agent Augusto Carpeggiani spoke to Calciomercato earlier this month, claiming that Inter manager Luciano Spalletti and their director of football Walter Sabatini had other plans, despite things being all but agreed upon.

“The negotiations were at an advanced stage, we’d had meetings and discussions, but when Spalletti and Sabatini arrived, things changed and they made other choices," he explained.