Inter: Leonardo still club´s coach

Inter Milan insist they could yet recall manager Leonardo as confusion reigns over the coaching position.

The Serie A giants revealed on June 18 that the Brazilian had left his post to potentially take up a role as general manager of Ligue 1 outfit Paris Saint-Germain.

The club reportedly began a search for a replacement immediately with the likes of England boss Fabio Capello and Turkey manager Guus Hiddink linked to the position.

After a meeting in Milan on Wednesday, former Genoa coach Gian Piero Gasperini firmed as favourite for the role.

But technical director Marco Branca said Leonardo could return to the club as their manager if he could not find a position in Paris.

“There are always alternatives and there’s also the fact that Leonardo is still our coach. I’d like to remind people of that,” he said.

“It’s not that Leonardo has left or sought to leave. He’s had the freedom to see whether there was a possibility, which is not entirely football-related, because it was something that was no longer his job but another job.”

“But in any case he remains our coach and I could recall him whatever happens.”

It comes less than a week after the club’s chief executive officer, Ernesto Paolillo, said the search for a new manager had begun.

“Leonardo is going to Paris and the club are now looking for a new coach. We want to find another coach,” he said on Saturday.

President Massimo Moratti denied Wednesday’s meeting was with Gasperini but admitted he was in the race to be manager.

“It’s not that we’re closing in on him. He’s being evaluated and he’s a very serious person and a great professional,” he said.

“But I haven’t decided, no.”

Moratti said on Sunday a decision on the new manager was not far away.