Having left Villarreal, Marcelino was strongly linked with the position at Inter and the coach has admitted that he came within a whisker of putting pen to paper on a Biscione contract.
The Serie A club were looking for a replacement for Frank De Boer having dismissed the Dutchman after just 85 days in charge, and eventually plucked for Stefano Pioli as his successor.
"I was negotiating and it was very close, but it was decided that they wanted an Italian coach," the Spaniard told Radio MARCA.
Marcelino also gave his view on the discussions around giving small items of sentiment to match officials in LaLiga, something he sees as harmless.
"Giving gifts to referees is a tradition that has been done for a long time," he added.
"It has no influence at all over the officials."
