Benitez stays" But Leonardo is on pole

These next few hours are decisive for Rafa Benitez's future at Inter. Tonight there were rumours of a meeting that were later denied by the Nerazzurro president, between Massimo Moratti and technical director Marco Branca, to discuss the future of the Spaniard, who seems to be more removed from the Nerazzurri as time goes by. The favourite candidate to replace him seems to be Leonardo, who spent last year at Milan's helm (his first experience as a coach). At the end of the meeting, Massimo Moratti commented: "At the moment, Benitez is the coach and I haven't contacted any other coaches. There hasn't been any marathon meeting and I had other things to do while other people met," explained Moratti. Moratti's son (and Inter vice-president) Angelomario Moratti, sports director Piero Ausilio and attorney Angelo Capellini arrived at the Saras offices in the late afternoon and were joined later on by technical director Marco Branca. Possibly, these denials have the purpose of buying time and assessing how to "free themselves" from Benitez in the least taxing way.

Mou's denial — This morning, the Spanish media were sure about it: Moratti was trying to bring José Mourinho back to Milan. However, Eladio Parames, the representative of the Portuguese coach, denied an alleged meeting between the Nerazzurro president and Mou in Madrid: "There hasn't been and there won't be any contact in Madrid between José Mourinho and Massimo Moratti—it wouldn't make any sense," said Parames. "José has a contract with Real Madrid and he will honour it. Will he leave at the end of the season? I think it would be difficult, although in football, you never know; it will depend on the season and the club, but it's not normal for Mou to leave a project after just one year. He has never done that."

Spalletti stays — In the meantime, Spalletti has been ruled out as a potential replacement. Maxim Mitrofanov, Zenit St. Petersburg's general director, commented this evening: "Spalletti has told us that he will stay with us at least for one more season and I believe him. Spalletti is unique," added the Zenit's general director, "and it would be simply impossible for him to deceive us or lie to us about his future."