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Exclusive: how Mazzarri prevented Inter from signing Papu Gomez

Exclusive: how Mazzarri prevented Inter from signing Papu Gomez

 
 
Milan target and social media hero Alejandro Papu Gomez isn’t just coming off a brace against Cagliari, he’s also a very prolific Serie A attacking midfielder. 
 
According to transfer enthusiast and chronicler Fabrizio Romano, however, there’s more to the Argentine: namely, he nearly joined local rivals Inter back in May 2013.
 
The architect of the move that came so close to fruition? The much-reviled Andrea Stramaccioni, a known Gomez fan who went so far as to spend time with the Argentine talking tactics. 
 
Inter had agreed to the move with both Catania and the Argentine… but they didn’t reckon with their own instability, Walter Mazzarri replacing Strama and heralding ghe arrival of the 3-5-2, which effectively turned El Papu away. 
 
Left black and blue, as he was when he realized that winning the Under-20 World Cup with Argentina made him ineligible to play for Italy, Gomez didn’t waste time on being blue, instead signing with Atalanta (after a move to Kharkhiv ended early because of the Ukrainian conflict). 
 
The 28-year-old has since netted 18 Serie A goals and added 13 assists. He’s recently reassured fans that they should keep him in fantasy football, appeared in a comedy video to hammer that message home and engaged in repeated instagram badinage with team-mate Andrea Petagna. 
 
Now targeted by Milan, the 28-year-old is set to play out the season with the Orobici. After that, who knows? 

Fabrizio Romano