Assessing the best players Piero Ausilio signed for Inter Milan as Tottenham links ramp up | OneFootball

We take a look at the transfers involving Spurs’ potential sporting director

Tottenham spent big in the summer transfer window, shelling out more than £300million to brings in the likes of Sandro Tonali, Omar Marmoush and Savio.

But now they could be about to revamp their recruitment team with the addition of Piero Ausilio as sporting director.

The Italian recently left Inter Milan where he worked in a similar role for 16 years and reports in his homeland suggest Spurs are ready to appoint him in January.

So, which players did Ausilio help the Nerazzurri recruit during his spell at the San Siro? Standard Sport takes a look at the transfers he has been involved with...

The best players Piero Ausilio signed for Inter

Lautaro Martinez

AFP/Getty

Ins

Lautaro Martinez

One of the best bits of business Ausilio has presided over is surely the signing of Martinez, who joined from Argentine side Racing for €23million in 2018. Almost a decade later, he has close to 200 Inter goals, multiple Serie A titles and has helped the club reach two Champions League finals. Oh, and he’s also now a World Cup winner.

Inter were the club who initially took the current Manchester City midfielder out of his homeland, signing him for €13m from Dinamo Zagreb in 2013. The Croatian was moved on to Real Madrid for €35m just two years later.

Nicolo Barella

Signed from Cagliari for €25m in 2020 following a successful loan spell, Barella has proved to be a key component of the current Inter side which has won domestic titles and contended for the Champions League. Inter have certainly got their money’s worth from the midfield star.

Hakan Calhanoglu

Getty

Hakan Calhanoglu

Inter knew they were courting controversy when signing the Turkey midfielder in the summer of 2021; after all, he had just run his contract down at their arch rivals AC Milan. However, the move proved inspired with Calhanoglu becoming a mainstay in Inter’s successful current generation.

Milan Skriniar

Snapped up from Sampdoria in 2017, the Slovakia international defender played a crucial role in Inter winning their first Serie A title in a decade in 2020/21 and also helped them reach the Champions League final two years later. Often under-rated but regarded in Lombardy as a master of his craft.

Yann Sommer

An example of Ausilio’s eye for a bargain in the transfer market. The experienced Sommer joined for just €6.75m in the summer of 2023 and won four domestic trophies in his three seasons at Inter, during which he was lauded as one of the best goalkeepers in the world. Also played in the 2025 Champions League final.

Outs

Romelu Lukaku

Lukaku was actually an excellent signing from Manchester United as he scored 30 goals in Inter’s 2020/21 title-winning campaign. However, his sale after only 12 months at the San Siro was arguably the best business – the Belgian left for Chelsea €115m, clearing a profit of €50million for the club.

Andre Onana

Signed on a free from Ajax in the summer of 2022, Onana played just a single season at Inter, one which ended with defeat to Manchester City in the 2023 Champions League final. That was his final game for the Nerazzurri before a €51million switch to Manchester United. That proved to be a bad – arguably disastrous - move for the player but a great one for Inter.

Xherdan Shaqiri

After the skillful Swiss shone at the start of his career in his homeland and at Bayern Munich, Shaqiri’s move to Inter never really worked and he left after just six months. Inter arguably saw his downslide coming, selling him to Premier League Stoke for around €17million in a 2017 transfer.