Piero Ausilio, sports director of Inter Milan, said that the possibilities of incorporating Javier Pastore fell due to the demands of Paris Saint-Germain.
The nerazzurri were linked with Pastore during the winter transfer window, but at the close of it on Wednesday night, there were no news of the Argentinean.
Ausilio, who had previously expressed his admiration for Pastore, revealed that the conversations were cut off after the initial approach.
"The conditions were not met --they never were-- and there were never any negotiations," Ausilio told La Gazzetta dello Sport. "This does not question the quality of the player, but when our loan request did not meet PSG's expectations, it was clear that there was no basis for negotiations. I had already said this."
But even without Pastore, Ausilio believes that Inter will achieve the objectives they set at the beginning of the season. They brought in Lisandro López from Benfica and Rafinha from Barcelona last month to boost a team that was already on track for one of the top four spots and the return to the Champions League.
"We aspire to return to the Champions League, and people can judge our transfer moves on the field," he added. "Right now, we are aligned with our season objectives, but we cannot relax and settle for what we have.
"We have done everything possible --we brought in a central defender to complete that area and signed a standout midfielder who will be useful to the cause. We facilitated the departure of certain players [Joao Mario and Yuto Nagatomo were loaned out] which relieved the wage burden and generated some money."
Meanwhile, Marcelo Brozovic, who was supposedly going to be sold on the deadline day, remains in the team and Ausilio says there were "never any negotiations" to sell him, despite reports that Sevilla had made an offer.
"There was interest from a club, but we did not promote it because [coach Luciano] Spalletti counts on the player a lot," Ausilio said. "Brozovic will have the opportunity to play in the World Cup as Croatia's starting midfielder with [Luka] Modric and [Ivan] Rakitic."
Ben Gladwell reports on Serie A, the Italian national team, and the Bundesliga for ESPN FC, UEFA, and the Press Association. @UEFAcomBenG.