Samp seeking Cassano stay
08 Jan 2009 - 15:10:29
Sampdoria chief executive Giuseppe Marotta is adamant that his club will not sell star forward Antonio Cassano in the January transfer window.
The 26-year-old Italy international has rebuilt his career with Samp over the last 18 months, having suffered some tough times with Real Madrid.
That has drawn interest from the likes of Internazionale, but Marotta insists that former Bari starlet Cassano is going nowhere until next summer at the earliest.
Marotta said: "We will try to keep him with us. Our intention is not to sell him.
"Cassano is doing very well and he is a player who can perform well in any tournament in the world.
"Yes, he is being observed and a lot of attention has been placed on him by many teams.
"But at this point of the season we have no intention to enter into negotiations. It will be an issue that we can discuss at the end of the year.
"Eventually, Cassano will have the final decision of whether to stay at Sampdoria or move elsewhere.
"But unless anything surprising happens, I don't see how Cassano will leave in the winter transfer market."