Marotta: ‘Inter made best choice with Chivu,’ plus Bonny and Leoni updates for 2025-26

Inter President Beppe Marotta with the FIFA Club World Cup trophy in San Siro (picture via www.inter.it)

Inter President Beppe Marotta insists they ‘could not have made a better choice’ than Cristian Chivu, while confirming Ange-Yoan Bonny from Parma and ‘very interesting’ Giovanni Leoni.

They are going into the FIFA Club World Cup Round of 16 tie against Fluminense.

It kicks off at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, at 20.00 UK time.

You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens on the Liveblog.

The winners of this tie will go on to face either Manchester City or Simone Inzaghi’s Al-Hilal in the quarter-finals of the FIFA Club World Cup.

“It is certainly very important that we progress, because it is the knockout round now and losing would mean going home,” Marotta told Sport Mediaset.

“We are eager to continue this marvellous experience and defend the history of our club.”

Inter look to present and future

This is still the 2024-25 season, but Inter are under the guidance of new coach Cristian Chivu, who has taken over from Inzaghi after the 5-0 Champions League Final defeat to Paris Saint-Germain.

“We pondered this decision carefully, then were decisive, courageous and stuck to our vision. We could not have made a better choice,” assured Marotta.

The transfer market officially opens tomorrow and Inter are already very active, agreeing a €25m including bonuses deal with Parma for striker Ange-Yoan Bonny.

He will have his medical tomorrow morning and could even fly out to join the team in the USA if they get to the quarter-finals.

“We are down to the details, I hope that it can be concluded by this evening American time and that he can start the medical as soon as possible. I don’t know if Bonny will come to join us in the USA, it depends on Chivu and the club, but we’ll ask ourselves these questions after today’s game.”

There are also reports that Inter are in negotiations with Parma for defender Giovanni Leoni.

“What we can say is that Leoni is a very interesting player on the Italian scene and for the future of the Nazionale,” confirmed Marotta.

“He is a real talent in his role, he is on our notebook, I won’t hide that, but that doesn’t mean people should read into this any concrete negotiations.”