‘You’ve yet to see my best' - Keita Balde wants permanent Inter Milan stay

Keita Balde says that Inter Milan have not seen his best and wants a permanent stay to further prove his worth with the Italian side.

The Senegal international joined the Nerazzurri on loan in the summer from French Ligue 1 giants Monaco with an option to buy pegged at around €30 million.

The winger has recovered from a slow start, scoring three goals and contributing two assists in 15 league appearances.

The former Lazio star who is full of praise for his childhood club has assured that ‘they’d be getting a bargain’ by securing his signature permanently.

“I imagined this to be a great club, and since I’ve been here that’s what I’ve found,” Keita told Tuttosport, per Football Italia.

“Since I was a child I’ve followed the matches of the two Milanese clubs. My dad really liked Milan’s Dutch trio, but I was more interested in Adriano, [Obafemi] Martins and [Zlatan] Ibrahimovic.

“I always played as the Nerazzurri on the PlayStation, and then my idol [Samuel] Eto’o arrived too. I’m proud to be here and proud the Coach wanted me.

“The Coach has clear ideas and knows what he’s doing.

“You’ve yet to see my best, let’s say I’m at 60-70 per cent now. Inter have to sign me outright because they’d be getting a bargain. I’m as enthusiastic as our President and I want to help the team grow.”

Inter have been eliminated from the Champions League to settle for Europa League while they are third in the league standings, 16 points adrift of leaders Juventus.

 “The Europa League isn’t a competition to be dismissed, it’s a very important competition," he continued.

“After the Champions League elimination, as a club and a team, we have to aim to win the trophy.

“In the league we don’t have a fixed objective, we definitely need to improve and try to stay in the top three until May.

“Juventus are a very strong club and their squad is just as good. We know that, but Inter have those things too.

“They’ve been winning for so many years though, and that’s increased their mentality. And in Italy now you’re used to making them Campioni d’Italia in December. The league is still open though, because there’s a long way to go.

“Honestly I don’t understand this smoke that surrounds every discussion about Juventus, the comments of fans or insiders about them being unbeatable.

“We had the opportunity to score twice [in Turin] before they did, and if we’d taken the lead it’d have been hard for them.

“We respect their strength, but I think they respect ours too and they’re not unbeatable.”

Balde will hope to continue helping his side when they play host to Napoli in their next league game on Boxing Day.