Inter’s Kondogbia gets a new lease of life from coach Pioli

Stefano Pioli’s arrival as Inter coach has given a new lease of life to midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia who has regained his place after being dropped and publicly criticised by former manager Frank de Boer.

Kondogbia, who has struggled to live up to his €31 million price tag since arriving at Inter last year, said Pioli had given the team new heart which shone through in Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Milan.

The French midfielder also took the unusual step of telling reporters to ignore his agent who said in an interview on Sunday that Kondogbia merely regarded Inter as a stepping stone to a bigger club.

“I’m a footballer and you should take note of what I say publicly, not my agent’s comments,” he said.

Kondogbia was persuaded to join Inter from Monaco by former coach Roberto Mancini who described him at the time as the club’s future.

“Geoffrey is a fantastic player and we hold high hopes for him,” Mancini said.

Kondogbia was left out France’s Euro 2016 squad and Mancini resigned two weeks before the start of this season and was replaced by De Boer.

Although he initially kept his place in the team, it all went wrong for the 23-year-old when his mistake cost Inter a goal in the 1-1 draw...