Inter Milan defender Matteo Darmian is proud to have worn the captain's armband in preseason.

Darmian has stepped up when Lautaro Martinez hasn't been on the pitch.

He told La Gazzetta dello Sport: “I've been here for a long time now… I feel like an old man in this squad. And the armband is a huge pleasure, even in matches like this.

“The truth is that we are doing a good job. We are at the beginning of the journey, but we must be ready immediately.

“We all have a goal in mind: not to repeat last year's mistakes, we want to start strong right away. And we are preparing for this, we said it to each other in the locker room.

“We are happy, but there are things to improve. But I saw the right thinking in my teammates, even in the newcomers who immediately showed great availability. It's up to us to integrate them in the best possible way."

Darmian also spoke of the growing Italian core inside the Inter squad.

“Inter in recent years have always had an important base of Italian players within the squad. I don't know if there will be more.

“But I think the idea of the club is clear, we are the ones who have to explain Inter to the new guys, we will have to be good at introducing them into our world, this is the added value of being Italian."