Inter target Villas-Boas
Reuters - Saturday 18 June 2011, 20:53
MILAN - Inter Milan are
expecting coach Leonardo to leave and media reports are
saying Porto's Andre Villas-Boas is top of their list of
potential successors.
Brazilian Leonardo is thinking about taking a less hands-on
sporting director role at former club Paris Saint-Germain, recently
bought by Qatari investors, and Inter are working on the
presumption he will quit after less than six months in the job.
"Our silence in recent days comes from the knowledge of
wanting to make a fundamental choice with extreme calmness,"
chief executive Ernesto Paolillo told the club's website
on Saturday.
"In the coming days there will certainly be an important
announcement. Asking if it will be a foreign or Italian manager
is like asking if he will be tall or blonde."
Former Argentina coach Marcelo Bielsa has turned down an
offer of talks with Inter for personal reasons while England's
Fabio Capello and Fiorentina's Sinisa Mihajlovic have been
linked in the media.
However, the latest reports in Italy said Inter directors
had flown to Portugal to see Villas-Boas who honed his skills
under treble-winning former Inter boss Jose Mourinho.
Villas-Boas, widely regarded as European football's top young
coach, has committed himself to the Portuguese and Europa League
champions and the Serie A giants would have to pay huge
compensation if they persuaded him to change his mind.
Inter missed out on a sixth straight scudetto last term when
Leonardo's former club AC Milan took the Serie A title while the
Brazilian also presided over Inter's Champions League
quarter-final exit as holders.