Trent Sainsbury admitted to being shocked over his switch to Inter, though the Australia international insisted he is not in Milan to make up the numbers.
Sainsbury swapped Chinese Super League side Jiangsu Suning for Inter on deadline day after Andrea Ranocchia joined Hull city on loan.
Having been deemed surplus to requirements at Jiangsu following new foreign rules introduced in the CSL - which allows only three imports to be named in the starting XI - Sainsbury made the move to Inter, who are also owned by the Suning Holdings Group, on loan until the end of the season.
And former PEC Zwolle centre-back Sainsbury said he did not expect to return to Europe so soon, after leaving Netherlands for China last year.
"I must admit to go to a club of this stature is a bit of a shock," the 25-year-old told the Daily Telegraph.
"I was thinking maybe I would go back to Holland and prove myself in European football again but this massive opportunity has come my way, one that I certainly couldn't turn down.
"It's the chance to play with and against some of the best players in Europe, in fact some of the best in the world. To go and pit myself against them will be a good fight — it's a short time period, so that allows me to give everything I possibly have until the end of the loan period and see where it takes me."
Sainsbury, who has earned 21 international caps while he also won the 2015 Asian Cup with Australia, added: "I'm going to have to adjust very quickly, no doubt - European football is dog-eat-dog.
"But I don't want to go there just to make up the numbers or for the experience, I want to go all out to play."
