Berni: "Joining Inter was a dream come true"

APPIANO GENTILE – Tommaso Berni described his 2014 return to Inter as a "dream come true" as he appeared on Inter Channel’s Caffé Doppio programme on Thursday evening.

"I would like to end my career here. When I was at Torino and got the call from Inter it was a dream come true – completely unexpected. I love this club," said the Italian goalkeeper.

The move to Inter was a full-circle moment for Berni, who spent three years with the club at the very beginning of his career in the game.

"I had the chance to move to the Inter youth academy at the age of 14, after I’d been at Fiorentina for a year," he explained. "I was here for three seasons and made it to the Primavera squad, as well as turning out for the Italian national sides. When I was 17 Wimbledon wanted to sign me and I decided to go for it – it was a fascinating opportunity. It was one of the most interesting experiences of my life and helped me on a footballing level too.

"I eventually came back to Italy to join Ternana, where I had a fantastic time. I played over 100 times in Serie B and have really fond memories of that time, especially because I met my partner there. I moved to Lazio at 23, but one of my greatest regrets is that I didn’t get much of a chance in my first three seasons there. It was the crucial point in my career and I was first-choice at U21 level, so doing basically nothing for three years didn’t help me at all."

On the subject of Inter’s current form, Berni was keen to stress that there was still all to play for this season.

"The Roma defeat hurts because we could have done more, but all is not lost," he insisted. "We still have some big head to heads to come and we absolutely need to bounce back with a win against Cagliari. We’ve got ourselves into this position and now we need to be positive and move forward. We’re training well and the boss is super motivated – we can still achieve our objectives."

Berni also spoke about his life away from the game.

"Music is a key part of my life – I listen to basically every genre, from rock to house. What counts is that it makes me feel something. It depends on the moment, but I have to have music on from the moment I wake up. I love art too – it’s those passions that help me switch off a bit."