Inter: Tevez too expensive

Inter Milan announced they will not try to lure Manchester City captain Carlos Tevez to the San Siro amid a crazy transfer period.

The Serie A side have been consistently linked with the discontented 27-year-old striker.

But Inter sporting director Marco Branca told the BBC the club could not afford Tevez’s wage demands, especially in view of the introduction of UEFA’s financial fair play laws.

“Tevez is a great player, a great character, but absolutely no,” Branca said.

“His salary means it is out of the question. The market is crazy at the moment and it is hard to compete.”

“He is a great player but a move for him is out of the question.”

“We have to organise our finances for the financial fair play rules in the next two years.”

“We don’t have the same revenues from merchandise and match day as the English sides. We are looking for younger players now with great talent, who we can develop.”

Branca also said Inter were struggling to compete for the signatures of other players.

“Take (Udinese winger) Alexis Sanchez, a player we liked,” he said. “Manchester City raised their bid for him to 35 million euros plus a bonus, which ruled us out of the race.”

“In the end, the player preferred to go to Barcelona and they got him for 28 million and a 10 million bonus. Not many clubs can afford that.”

As the club’s search for a new manager to replace the Paris Saint Germain-bound Leonardo, Branca also revealed Inter had been keen on new Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas, but again finances had come into play.

“Villas-Boas likes us and we like him,” Branca said. “He was with us for nearly two years but the situation was that he had a clause, like a player.”

“The release clause was 15 million euros. We don’t want to give Porto a job as well as him, so why should we pay them so much? Chelsea were the only club willing to pay that.”