Inter could not find midfielder of sufficient quality – Ausilio

Inter sporting director Piero Ausilio says the club did not sign a midfielder in the recent transfer window because they could not find one of sufficient quality.

The Serie A club signed forward Eder from Sampdoria but made no other additions despite their desire to bring a midfielder to San Siro.

With Inter due to host Chievo on Wednesday, Ausilio filled in at the pre-match media conference for coach Roberto Mancini, who is serving a one-game ban after being sent to the stands during Sunday’s 3-0 defeat to fierce rivals AC Milan.

“We could only get one player. At the beginning we wanted to get a midfielder, but there wasn’t the quality out there that you’d think,” Ausilio said.

“In terms of cost and quality, we didn’t find anyone who could do the job.

“You can play in a lot of different ways in football, so we evaluated everything with the coach and decided the right thing to do was get someone for the attack.

“Eder is different from the other players in our squad, our attacking department is one of the best and all our strikers have different characteristics.”

Midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia – signed from Monaco in June in a reported €31million move – has struggled to justify his transfer fee in his first season at the club.

But Ausilio said of the France international: “He needs to get to know everything. His team-mates, the media, the country and everything else.

Sometimes the media pay more attention to him that anyone else, you shouldn’t always think about his price tag.

“He’s just a lad, he needs time to grow, and he’ll be given a lot of advice. He’s dedicated, a great professional and a great talent.

“This talk will soon be forgotten.”