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FBL-EUR-C1-INTER MILAN-BARCELONAAFP
Haytham Mohamed

Translated by

The Inter president officially responds to Alessandro Bastoni's move to Al-Hilal, and the truth about Barcelona's double offer to snatch Joao Cancelo and Darwin Nunez

Al Hilal
Barcelona
Inter
A. Bastoni
J. Cancelo
D. Nunez
Saudi Pro League
LaLiga
Serie A

Developments in Al Hilal's transfer market.

Al-Hilal's summer transfer business has sparked plenty of controversy over the past few hours, both over the players coming in and those heading for the exit.

The Riyadh giants are planning a summer of "replacement and renewal", determined to put right a disappointing 2025-2026 campaign. The first team ended it with just the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup to show for their efforts.

  • Alessandro Bastoni InterGetty

    Inter president responds to Alessandro Bastoni's move to Al-Hilal

    Inter president Giuseppe Marotta has responded to reports linking Al-Hilal with a move for first-team defender Alessandro Bastoni.

    Sports journalist Gianluca Di Marzio had earlier revealed that Al-Hilal boss Simone Inzaghi asked his board to sign Bastoni this summer.

    Speaking to 365Scores on Tuesday evening, Marotta insisted no offer for the Italian defender had arrived from Al-Hilal. Everything doing the rounds in the media, he stressed, amounted to nothing more than rumour.

    He signed off with a pointed message: "Our position on Bastoni is clear to everyone." The Italian giants want to keep the defender for next season, 2026-2027.

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  • Al Hilal v Al Najmah: Saudi Pro LeagueGetty Images Sport

    Al-Hilal club's plan regarding the "centre-back" position

    Special sources have revealed Al-Hilal's plan for the centre-back position ahead of the 2026-2027 season to "365Scores".

    The Riyadh giants won't move for a new foreign defender until they have settled the futures of Senegal's Kalidou Koulibaly and Turkey's Yusuf Akcicek, the first-team duo.

    Any decision on the pair will come after Al-Hilal assess them definitively during the first team's pre-season camp, the sources added.

  • The truth about Barcelona's offer to sign the Al-Hilal duo

    The same sources also touched on Joao Cancelo and Darwin Nunez, the Al-Hilal pair linked with a summer switch to Barcelona. Cancelo is a Portuguese full-back, Nunez a Uruguayan striker.

    Barcelona's interest in Cancelo is hardly a secret. Nunez, meanwhile, has cropped up as a "potential attacking option" for the Catalans should they miss out on their primary targets.

    According to the sources, Barcelona have yet to table any official offer for the Portugal international. As for Nunez, his link to the club amounts to nothing more than suggestions from a few quarters.

    In short: no offers, no concrete moves from Barcelona for Cancelo or Nunez as things stand.

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  • Alessandro Bastoni InterGOAL

    Alessandro Bastoni's career in the world of football

    Alessandro Bastoni cut his teeth at his local club Atalanta. The 27-year-old Italy international defender climbed through the age groups before earning promotion to the first team in January 2017.

    Inter snapped up Bastoni's contract in the summer of 2017 for roughly 40.7 million euros, but left him at Atalanta for another season on loan.

    The Italian giants loaned him out again in the summer of 2018, this time to fellow local club Parma. That deal ran for a single season, until 30 June 2019.

    Since 2019, Bastoni has been a fixture in Inter's first team. His current contract runs until 30 June 2028.

    He has racked up 298 official appearances for the club across domestic and international competitions, scoring 8 goals and laying on 30 assists for his teammates.