Thursday, May 20, 2010

Inter Milan Deny Interest In Rafa Benitez

Inter Milan have strongly denied claims they have contacted Rafa Benitez with a view to him replacing Jose Mourinho at the San Siro.

While Benitez's future at Liverpool has been the subject of much speculation this year, Mourinho is favourite to take over from the under fire Manuel Pellegrini at Real Madrid.

The former Chelsea boss has said he will make a decision on his future after Saturday's Champions League final against Bayern Munich at the Bernabeu.

Should Mourinho head to Madrid on a permanent basis, Benitez is likely to be on Inter's shortlist to succeed him in Milan.

When asked about Benitez, though, Inter's sporting director Marco Branca told Sky Italia: “We absolutely have had no contact with Benitez.

“Our coach is Jose Mourinho.”

Benitez has also been linked with Juventus in recent months but the Turin club's interest in the Spaniard has now cooled and they have turned their attention to former Sampdoria manager Luigi Del Nieri.

Del Nieri stepped down at Sampdoria earlier this week just 24 hours after securing a Champions League place for the Genoa based club.

The 59-year-old is now expected to replace Alberto Zaccheroni at Juventus, whose contract expires this month.

A statement from Sampdoria read: “Sampdoria announces that in the 2010-11 campaign, they will not continue with the services of first team coach Luigi Del Neri.

“The club wants to thank the coach and his staff for the professionalism and dedication shown this season and wishes them the best of luck in their future careers.”

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