Portugal winger Ricardo Quaresma has spoken out about his joy at joining Italian champions Inter Milan in a late transfer deadline deal.
The 25-year-old was one of Inter boss Jose Mourinho’s top transfer targets and the former Chelsea manager got his man with only hours remaining to the end of Monday’s deadline.
For Quaresma, who joined from FC Porto, it will be his second spell abroad following an unhappy season at Barcelona in 2003-04.
“Being at Inter is a dream for me because it’s always been my aim to come to a big club and this is a big club with great players, hence I’m very thankful to Porto,” Quaresma told the official Inter website.
Porto had initially held out for a higher fee than Inter were willing to offer but the deal eventually went through for a sum rising to 24.6 million euros plus six-million-euro rated Portuguese midfielder Vitor Pele.
Mourinho had said a few days ago that he wanted to add a speedy winger, such as Quaresma, to his squad as his preferred 4-3-3 formation involves a central striker flanker by two wingers.
“Quaresma is an eclectic player who can play in a 4-3-3 or 4-4-2 formation,” said Mourinho, who added he was delighted with the support he had received from club bosses in the transfer market.
“When I arrived I asked for three players: Quaresma, (Alessandro) Mancini and (Frank) Lampard.
“When Lampard changed his mind I asked the club for (Sulley) Muntari and they have delivered and I thank them.
“Now that I’ve got them, it’s up to me to deliver.”
