Inter coach Roberto Mancini believes it will be difficult to sign Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure during the close-season transfer window.
Toure has one season remaining on his contract at City, who he joined during Mancini s tenure at the Etihad Stadium ahead of the 2010-11 campaign.
The Ivory Coast international scored winning goals in the FA Cup semi-final and final that season and went on to play a central role in City s Premier League title triumph under Mancini in 2011-12.
He has continued to be an influential figure under Mancini s successor Manuel Pellegrini but doubt began swirling over the 32-year-old s long-term future after City confirmed Pep Guardiola would replace the Chilean from next season.
Guardiola sold Toure to City when he was in charge of Barcelona and the player s outspoken agent Dimitri Seluk has since resumed his familiar role of offering mixed messages regarding his client s long-term future.
Nevertheless, Mancini is not overly optimistic about the prospects of prizing a player he admires away from the Premier League.
I always get asked a thousand questions about players, he told Premium Sport.
I ve said that with players who have good technique and personality we could improve. We ll see what happens.
As for Toure, we re talking about a Manchester City player. That s why I say it won t be easy to operate on the transfer market.
We ll evaluate opportunities as they arise.
Inter lie fourth in the Serie A table with three matches to play this season, their hopes of the title and Champions League qualification having faded since the turn of the year.
