Former Inter Milan Sports Director Marco Branca revealed the transfer inside stories behind building the legendary treble-winning team in an interview. He detailed the Ibrahimović-Eto'o swap deal, the twists and turns of Sneijder's arrival, and the doubts initially faced when signing Maicon.
Q: How did the blockbuster 2009 summer deal between Ibrahimović and Eto'o come about?
Branca: It was a gradual process. Ibrahimović wanted to join Barcelona to play alongside Messi and win the Champions League. One day, Barcelona's transfer chief had a layover in Milan on his way back from scouting a defender, called us to have dinner, and negotiations began. The initial plan included Hleb in the deal, but he refused to join. In the end, we finalized the deal as Eto'o's ownership plus €50 million.
Q: That same summer, Sneijder joined just before the transfer window closed. Was the situation urgent?
Branca: He was always our top target for the attacking midfielder position, but he was reluctant to leave Real Madrid. Thanks to the help of Ernesto Bronzetti, we managed to convince him. He arrived at the final stage of the transfer market, and because the paperwork was approved too late, he had to train alone the day before his debut in the Milan Derby. Mourinho was angry about this and said to me: "You can't even get him to join the team's final training session." I didn't reply to him in Portuguese at that time.
Q: Regarding signing Maicon from Monaco in 2006, I heard there were differing opinions back then?
Branca: We had been monitoring him for a long time, and finally signed him for €6.5 million, which was a reasonable figure. Guidolin was coaching Monaco at the time and didn't praise him much, mainly due to some off-field issues. But facts have proven he was a great player – in fact, he was the real tactical fulcrum of that treble-winning team.
