Udinese’s sporting director Pierpaolo Marino was a guest on Udinese Tonight on Monday. Here’s what he had to say about the current squad and the January transfer window.
“We headed into this transfer window convinced that we’d done a good job in the summer and consequently didn’t have any pressing needs. Samir’s contract was expiring and so we needed to find a solution to stop us from losing a player on a free. [Sebastien] De Maio had asked to move on to play regularly. Two centre-backs left the club and we brought in a right-footed one in [Filip] Benkovic with great future prospects, and a left-footed one in Pablo Mari, who’s ready to play.
“As for [Gerard] Deulofeu, we’ve read the news. Sometimes journalists are faster than us, but we’ve never been in contact with representatives from Marseille and it’s not our intention to let Deulofeu leave.
“Kem Sema is currently a key player for Watford and there’s been no attempt to try to bring him back to Friuli.
“We haven’t tried anything in midfield because with [Mato] Jajalo making a full recovery, [Jean-Victor] Makengo bursting on to the scene, [Lazar] Samardzic almost relegated to a bit part and [Roberto] Pereyra coming back, we couldn’t bring in any new faces.
“There are never easy games in the calendar. We have to take on the big boys and we’re ready for everything. This team has quality, substance and desire to do well.
“The decision on Fiorentina v Udinese will be made in the future and we’re ready to provide all the necessary documentation for that decision. If the judge has delayed the decision, it means he wants to get to the bottom of the situation. We’re convinced that we can provide adequate documentation to back the correct stance that we’ve taken.”