Gasperini wanted to sign Palacio

Former Inter coach Gian Piero Gasperini said he would have succeeded as a manager at the San Siro if he had more star power in the squad.

The 54-year-old revealed that he asked the Nerazzurri’s top brass to sign Rodrigo Palacio to join stars Diego Milito and Samuel Eto’o, but the club swooped for Diego Forlan and Mauro Zarate instead.

Gasperini shed some light on Inter’s potential targets during his short stint as coach at the beginning of this season, with names like Manchester City’s Mario Balotelli and Juventus’ Arturo Vidal coming to the fore.

“They (the Inter board) went after (Alexis) Sanchez, (Ezequiel) Lavezzi, (Carlos) Tevez. I was ready to challenge the world with Palacio, Milito and Eto’o,” the coach told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“We thought about (Arturo) Vidal. I liked (Radja) Nainggolan too but he wasn’t considered worthy of Inter. I also liked (Domenico) Criscito, not to mention Palacio.

“In Dublin, (Massimo) Moratti spoke to me about taking Mario (Balotelli) back. Perhaps he’d spoken to (Manchester City manager Roberto) Mancini.”

“But (Moratti) explained we were the only ones at Inter who wanted him, the president and the coach. I thought that’d be enough.”

Gasperini has been out of work since September, after being sacked by Inter having failed to win in his last five senior games in charge.