Switzerland international Ricardo Rodriguez reportedly turned down advances from the likes of Napoli and Inter in order to secure his move to AC Milan, agent Gianluca di Domenico has revealed.

The left-back had been strongly linked with a Premier League switch last winter, but the ambitious project at the Rossoneri was too hard to ignore for the former Wolfsburg man.

Speaking exclusively to Calciomercato, Di Domenico was asked whether the likes of Inter and Napoli were after his client's services, to which he replied: "Yes, I can confirm that there were many Italian teams [interested in him]. Fassone and Mirabelli were very good, they showed that they had great skills this summer. They make you feel from the get go that they want to sign you, they have a way of pursuing negotiations which frankly surprised us. Mirabelli knows about football, he was able to describe Ricardo from A to Z, analysing his strengths and weaknesses he needs to work on."

Rodriguez has already been rated as one of the most promising full-backs in Europe, and Calcio mercato suggests that Inter Milan pulled out of the chase early in the mix as they were not willing to match his €18m valuation. As a result, it became a straight fight between AC Milan and Napoli in the Serie A, and the Rossoneri gained the advantage with the assurance of regular first-team football.

Milan have made a bright start to the campaign with victories in their opening two games. However, they have been far from convincing as they required a late goal from Suso to register all three points against Cagliari last month.

Vincenzo Montella's side are already deemed joint favourites to lift the Europa League title but they still have a long route to the tournament's final in Lyon with Premier League giants Arsenal likely to be their biggest threat along the way.