Alessandro Bastoni has admitted that he wanted to lend Inter Milan while Antonio Conte was the club’s coach.
On the BSMT podcast, via FCINTERNEWS, Bastoni looked back on his transition to Nerazzurri and his early years at the club.
Alessandro Bastoni joined Inter Milan from Atalanta in the summer of 2017.
Italian International has financed with Radea for the season. He then spent the 2018-19 campaign with Parma.
However, in 2019, Bastoni became part of the Inter first team setup.
This was the same summer when Antonio Conte arrived as coach.
The current Naples and former Chelsea and Juventus coaches quickly placed their faith in Bastoni.
Alessandro Bastoni: “I asked Conte to lend it out 50 times.”
Bastoni said he learned he would be taking part in the “year before I was loaned out to Parma.”
“I was at the gas station, I met my agent. He told me: “Listen, do you want to join the inter?”
“There was nothing after that,” Bastoni recalls. “I didn’t hesitate. I said yes right away.”
“Then obviously from there, I wouldn’t have thought that in such a short time I would become an Inter’s regular starter.”
“I didn’t play for Atalanta,” Bastoni recalls the 2017-18 season. “And I had a good season with Parma.”
“Then I came back to the inter when Conte was there,” he continued.
“There were a lot of quality defenders. Skriniar, De Vrij, Godin. I thought I would never play.”
Bastoni admitted, “I asked him to go out to lend.”
“I asked him 50 times, but he didn’t want to hear it.”
“He wanted to sacrifice me and keep me,” Bastoni said of Parma. “And in October he started playing me.”
Regarding why Conte trusted him so quickly, Bastoni said, “He’s a football fan.”
“I’m sure he’s seen all my matches at Parma. He’s very focused and he’s paying attention to these things.”
“In my opinion, he saw some qualities Inter lacked at that point because I was the only left-footed player in the whole defense at the time.”
“And then, playing with the back three, he needed it,” Bastoni said.
The 26-year-old also said Conte “knowed that he wasn’t ready at first.”
“It’s not easy to make such a big leap.”
“But he saw that there was a possibility for me,” Bastoni said of his former coach. “It worked.”
“And he had the most important thing: the courage to throw me into the team.”
Bastoni said, “I haven’t re-watched the final highlights of the 2023 Champions League yet.”
Alessandro Bastoni then spoke about the 2023 Champions League final. Inter lost a match against Manchester City, but only by the narrowest margin.
Bastoni admitted that he had “a real tough time” after the final.
“You’re having a hard time sleeping,” he said. “And then, because you dream of things during the game.”
“I don’t know how many times I’ll play in the Champions League final.”
Bastoni said, “I would rather lose 10-0 than lose the way we lost it.”
“Because there was a realization that we could do that.”
The 26-year-old admitted that “I have not re-watched the highlights of that match yet.”
“It makes me too nervous. It makes me sad, it hurts.”
“And I don’t know if you’ll destroy you again in such a match,” Bastoni said. “It’s a motive in the end, but it’s not easy.”
Bastoni then said the Darvis against AC Milan was Inter’s most important match.
“We recently faced them towards the location of Coppa Italia Final.
“A little over a year ago I concluded my Scudetto at my house in Milan,” Bastoni added.
“In those cases, it becomes even more beautiful. There’s even more motivation.”
