Treble winners Inter Milan see England coach Fabio Capello as a candidate to succeed Jose Mourinho as their next manager, club president Massimo Moratti said on Friday.
Treble winners Inter Milan see England coach Fabio Capello as a candidate to succeed Jose Mourinho as their next manager, club president Massimo Moratti said on Friday.
"I haven't taken a decision. Capello is one of the candidates and he certainly has a great pedigree," Moratti told www.gazzetta.it in a webchat.
He did not say whether the club had already approached the English Football Association about Capello, who had previously said the national role would be his last coaching job and had seemed set to continue through to Euro 2012.
The 63-year-old Italian, a former Juventus, AC Milan and AS Roma coach, is preparing England for the World Cup which starts in South Africa on June 11 and the FA will have wished to avoid such distractions in the build-up to the tournament.
Moratti also said Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola would be an excellent candidate but acknowledged it would be nearly impossible to prise him from the Spanish champions.
Zenit St Petersburg and former Roma boss Luciano Spalletti, ex-Brazil and Chelsea coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, former Milan manager Leonardo and ex-Inter player Roberto Baggio were also mentioned by Moratti but he doubted any would come to Inter.
Fulham coach and former Inter boss Roy Hodgson has been linked with Inter in the media along with Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez and former Catania manager Sinisa Mihajlovic, who is talking to Fiorentina.
Outside coach
Mourinho guided Inter to the Champions League title and an unprecedented Italian treble last season but is unhappy in the cynical world of Italian soccer and is negotiating a release from his contract to join Real Madrid.
Moratti still has outside hopes Mourinho will see out the final two years of his contract with Inter if a compensation package of around 16 million euros ($19.6 million) cannot be agreed with Real, who have sacked Manuel Pellegrini.
"We want to end this saga well. I have no deadline to find a new coach. Maybe Mourinho will stay with us and I won't need a new one," Moratti said before explaining why Inter are not letting the Portuguese go lightly.
"I don't believe it is a rude or overly hard position to take. It's only the fact that we would willingly have continued with Mourinho. Mourinho has been spectacular," he said.
Moratti also expressed interest in Arsenal and Liverpool midfielders Cesc Fabregas and Steven Gerrard but said it would be almost impossible to buy them.
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