Inter president officially responds to Bastoni's move to Al-Hilal, and the truth about Barcelona's double offer to snatch Cancelo and Nunez

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Developments in Al Hilal's transfer market...

Al-Hilal's summer transfer window has descended into controversy over the past few hours, both over the deals coming in and the names heading for the exit.

The Riyadh giants want a "replacement and renewal" job on their squad this summer. They are looking to make amends for a disappointing 2025-2026 campaign, one in which the first team had to settle for the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup and nothing else.

Alessandro Bastoni Inter

Inter president responds to Alessandro Bastoni's move to Al-Hilal

Against that backdrop, Inter president Giuseppe Marotta hit back at reports linking Al-Hilal with a move for first-team defender Alessandro Bastoni.

Sports journalist Gianluca Di Marzio revealed that Al-Hilal boss Simone Inzaghi had asked the Saudi club's board to sign Bastoni this summer.

Marotta denied it all. Speaking to 365Scores on Tuesday evening, he insisted no offer had arrived for the Italian defender and dismissed the talk as pure rumour.

He signed off with a pointed line: "Our position on Bastoni is clear to everyone," a nod to Inter's determination to keep the player for the 2026-2027 season.

Al Hilal v Al Najmah: Saudi Pro League

Al-Hilal club's plan regarding the "centre-back" position

Sources speaking exclusively to "365Scores" have revealed Al Hilal's plan for the centre-back position ahead of the 2026-2027 season.

The Riyadh giants won't sign a new foreign defender until they have settled the futures of first-team pair Kalidou Koulibaly of Senegal and Turkey's Yusuf Akcicek, the sources explained.

A decision on the duo will follow a final assessment during the first team's pre-season training camp.

The truth about Barcelona's offer to sign the Al-Hilal duo

The same sources also touched on the cases of Portuguese full-back Joao Cancelo and Uruguayan striker Darwin Nunez, the Al-Hilal duo linked with a summer switch to Catalan giants Barcelona.

Barcelona's interest in Cancelo is hardly a secret. Nunez, meanwhile, has cropped up as a "potential attacking option" should they miss out on their primary targets.

According to those sources, Barcelona have yet to lodge any official bid for the Portuguese full-back. The Uruguayan's link to the club, they insist, amounts to little more than suggestions from certain quarters.

The verdict, then, is clear. No offers, no concrete moves from Barcelona for either Joao Cancelo or Darwin Nunez.

Alessandro Bastoni Inter

Alessandro Bastoni's career in the world of football

Italy international Alessandro Bastoni, 27, started out at his boyhood club Atalanta, working his way through the age groups before breaking into the first team in January 2017.

Inter snapped up the defender in the summer of 2017 for around 40.7 million euros, then left him at Atalanta on loan for another season.

The Italian giants loaned him out again in the summer of 2018. This time it was to Parma, a deal that ran for a single season until 30 June 2019.

Since 2019, Bastoni has been a fixture in Inter's first team, and his current deal ties him to the club until 30 June 2028.

He has racked up 298 official appearances for the Nerazzurri across various domestic and continental competitions, chipping in with 8 goals and 30 assists.