Inter coach Jose Mourinho’s dream move to Real Madrid is far sealed Inter president Massimo Moratti said on Tuesday.
Moratti said his club’s relationship with Mourinho was all but over following dinner between the pair on Monday, but the Champions League and treble winners are not planning to give up their Portuguese coach without due compensation.
Reports have said Inter want about 16 million euros (US$19.55 million) from Real if they move for Mourinho given that his contract with the club runs until 2012.
“No, what do you mean it’s done, it’s the opposite. We haven’t even started,” Moratti told reporters before being asked if a decision would be made yesterday.
Some Inter fans are upset with Mourinho for the timing of his comments declaring his desire to leave as the team celebrates its stunning treble success and feel he has stolen some of the limelight from the club.
The Inter president had been quoted in the media as saying he had been “taken for a ride” by Mourinho but Moratti firmly denied saying any such thing.
“He achieved all the objectives he had to achieve. The annoying part will be now, the pain of finding someone new,” Moratti said.
He added that there was no particular name in mind. Fulham’s ex-Inter boss Roy Hodgson, Liverpool coach Rafa Benitez and former Inter assistant coach Sinisa Mihajlovic, who quit Catania on Monday, have all been linked with the Serie A champions.
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