“We have kept the same team as last season, which brought us all the trophies. The real coup was that of keeping Maicon, the best full-back in the world.

“We couldn’t have bought Fabregas and Schweinsteiger and it’s illogical to buy Mascherano for €22m,” he concluded.

nter had to sell youngster Mario Balotelli to Manchester City in an effort to balance the books ahead of UEFA’s financial fair-play laws coming into effect in 2012