Inter Milan chief Piero Ausilio is delighted with the impact of Marcus Thuram.

Ausilio admits he's been chasing Thuram for three years.

He told Radio Serie A: "The first time I talked about him in the club was after the sale of (Romelu) Lukaku at Chelsea: he played wide at 'Gladbach, he didn't even know he was a centre-forward.

"We took (Edin) Dzeko, but we were missing another element: he was the chosen one, the negotiation was proceeding quickly thanks also to Mino Raiola, but unfortunately he injured his knee. We had to change our objective.

"But those meetings remained the basis for him arriving this summer: his father Lilian hadn't forgotten that I was the first to tell him that his son could be a central striker."