During an interview with 'Cronache di Spogliatoio', Udinese midfielder Lazar Samardzic - besides talking about his failed move to Inter - also revealed a negotiation with AC Milan when he had just turned 18:
"At 16, I had the opportunity to go to Barcelona; Barcelona knocked on my door. It was Patrick Kluivert, head of Barcelona's youth sector, La Masia. He showed us the growth plan and the idea they had for me. But my parents thought I was too young to leave, that it was too early, and I agreed with them. A year later, Milan tried. Together with my family, I went to Milanello, invited by Paolo Maldini. They showed us the facilities, I was 17, and my father had always told me that Italian football, until a few years earlier, was the leader in the world. Even that day, we decided not to rush. Shortly after, I made my debut with Hertha Berlin, and every weekend, I went to the Olympiastadion to watch the matches."
Regarding the negotiation with Inter, which fell through after the medical examinations, Samardzic said:
"I experienced an unpleasant situation firsthand. I was negotiating with Inter, but then nothing happened. It was August, I remember well, and there was no talk of anything else. When the first problems arose, I opened my phone and found many insults in chat. And they kept increasing every hour. Every comment on my profile was about that. I immediately said to myself: 'Laki, calm down. It's normal.' Fans are people, and not all people are the same. I immediately promised myself to look forward, to turn those insults into strength to go even stronger. However, those fans who portrayed my father in a bad light hurt me, insulting him saying he only thought about money, that he was ruining my career. Nothing could be further from the truth. We talked a lot in those days. And in the end, after all that chaos, I looked inside myself and realised that I had no regrets about how things went, about not going to Inter."
