Inter Milan manager Roberto Mancini has admitted that he tried to lure Chelsea's on-loan winger Mohamed Salah to the San Siro during the January transfer window.

Salah, 22, instead move to Fiorentina until the end of the season as part of the deal that brought Juan Cuadrado to the Premier League.

"We were considering him, but Chelsea wanted Cuadrado," Mancini told reporters ahead of tomorrow's clash with Napoli.

"We were working on Xherdan Shaqiri and we could have also gone for Salah. We had to do things quickly, so we went for other players. He was an option and we knew we had a chance of signing him."

Inter are struggling in Serie A this season, currently sitting in ninth place after 25 games.