Mancini (and Kovacic) shut down Kovacic to Liverpool rumors

For quite some time now the media has been reporting that Inter midfielder Mateo Kovacic was well on his way to Liverpool, having already agreed to wages and just needing the two clubs to agree to a transfer fee. They were also saying that the club was eager to sell the 21 year old in order to fund new arrivals. During all this time there really haven't been any comments from Inter Milan but all of a sudden both Mancini and Kovacic have spoken about this topic.

Mancini was being interviewed by Sky Italia and said "He'll develop into a top-class player because he has the ability to do so. Will he stay at Inter? Yes, at the moment there's nothing to suggest otherwise."

Well clearly there have been things to suggest otherwise, namely all the reports about his move. So what does this mean? There can be two ways to interpret what Mancini said:

Optimist: "Kovacic is going to be a world-class player and we have finally got that through our heads. Given the fact of how good he is/will be (and all of the cheeky undervalued bids that Liverpool have offered so far) he is no longer for sale. Move on Brendan Rogers..."

Cynic: "Kovacic is going to be a world-class player and due to that fact we will not accept a penny less than what we value him at. So Liverpool if you want him you better pay up or walk away. This isn't going to be Coutinho 2.0"

If there had just been these statements then it would be possible to believe the cynical point of view that Kovacic could still leave for the right price but Kovacic himself commented on the potential move. While being interviewed before Croatia's match against Italy he said, "I’ve signed until 2019 so I’m 100% staying".

These two strong denials of any move to Liverpool must come as a relief to many Inter fans. While we know that there will probably have to be some sales to fund new arrivals, it is not worth sacrificing one of the most promising young midfielders in Europe. He could still leave, but adopting the cynical point of view just got a whole lot harder (thankfully).