Former Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti says he still has no qualms about receiving the 2006 Serie A title by default, although he does regret never having signed Eric Cantona for the Nerazzurri.
Moratti sold his majority holding in Inter to Erick Thohir just under a year ago, after 19 years as president. He looked back on many memories of his time at the helm in an interview with Mediaset television, in which he says he still regards the 2006 title as one of his biggest achievements.
Inter were awarded the trophy only after Juventus were scrapped of their title due to the Calciopoli match-fixing scandal, and with AC Milan docked 30 points to drop behind them.
"I don't scorn the title we were awarded, which I feel was the right thing," he said. "Even the one we won in 2010 was one of those which made me suffer the most. I prefer our five Scudettos to the one Champions League."
He also revealed how close he was to signing former Manchester United striker Cantona, and how his infamous kung-fu kick of a fan at Crystal Palace 20 years ago, that saw him receive a nine-month ban, actually brought Moratti closer to landing the Frenchman.
"Maybe if we'd signed him, we would have started winning sooner because Cantona would have changed everything," he said.
"I was at the stadium when he kicked that fan and I said that maybe it would help with our negotiations, because maybe they would gave let him go because of that. We were about to sign him, and then, due to somebody's mistake, it didn't happen.
"Then there was [Francesco] Totti. We could have negotiated with him because his contract was up for renewal, but Roma would never have let him go.
"I also tried to sign Roberto Mancini from Sampdoria but their president [Paolo] Mantovani considered him like one of his own children and almost started crying. Then, one day, Mancini sent me an Inter shirt with the Scudetto badge sewn onto it, telling me that we would win it one day.
"That impressed me a lot, and not much later I appointed him as coach."
Soon after, Inter won their first Serie A title under Moratti, the year after inheriting the 2006 one Moratti still cherishes along with the others.