Antonio Candreva urged Inter's title rivals to take Saturday's 3-1 victory over Cagliari as a statement of intent from Luciano Spalletti's side.
Inter moved top of Serie A after Mauro Icardi's double took him to 15 top-flight goals for the season, while Marcelo Brozovic was also on target in Sardinia.
The San Siro club remain unbeaten this season and, although they could be replaced at the top when Napoli head to Udinese on Sunday, Candreva felt the club had sent out "an important signal".
"It was a match full of pitfalls, we knew it would be," said Candreva.