Ryan Nolan has left Inter Milan.
The Irish underage international has sealed a move to Serie C side Arezzo. Nolan, who was born in Shannon and moved to Spain when he was eight, spent four years at Inter.
He captained their under-19 side and represented the club in the Youth Champions League. However, as is often the case with young players, he found first-team opportunities hard to come by.
As reported by Pundit Arena last month, the Italian giants have been listening to offers for Nolan and the player has been open to a move. Leeds United, Brighton and Hove Albion and Leicester City were all interested. A transfer to Elland Road fell through on deadline day, as the club planned to loan Nolan to Kilmarnock.
On Saturday morning, it was announced that the 20-year-old central defender has joined Arezzo, a club based 80km south of Florence in Italy’s Tuscan region.
Inter have included a stipulation which states that, should Arezzo sell Nolan, they will receive 50 per cent of the transfer fee.
The Italian third division for Irish defender Ryan Nolan. He had been very close to signing with Leeds United but the deal fell through late. Host of other English clubs interested before that. Senior football important for him. 50% sell on fee for Inter too, which says a lot. https://t.co/UXe2CLzjma
— Oisin McQueirns (@McQueirns) August 31, 2019
Speaking to Pundit Arena in January, Nolan said that he always knew that he would have to go to the lower leagues in Italy to get first-team football.
“In Italy, it’s very hard to get into first teams, there’s not that much of a chance unless you’re exceptional so I think especially at a big club like Inter you have to be top class,” the 20-year-old said.
“A lot of the lads decide go on loan to Serie B and Serie C which is the equivalent to the Championship or League One, for a year or two or whatever and they learn the trade down there with tough lads and hopefully do well, play well and come back to original team then in the future. It’s very hard to break straight into the first team directly.”