Inter quash Mourinho speculation

Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti has denied the club is in talks with former coach Jose Mourinho over a move back to the San Siro.

Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport reported the 48-year-old has enrolled his children in a school in Lugano, near Inter’s training ground, prompting speculation the Real Madrid boss could be poised for a return to the Italian champions.

Mourinho guided Inter to a historic treble in 2010 when he led them to glory in the Champions League, Serie A and the Coppa Italia, but Moratti has hosed down the speculation.

“I’ve read it in the newspapers, but there is nothing going on with Mourinho,” Moratti said.

Moratti defended new Inter coach Leonardo, who took over from Rafael Benitez in December, after the club’s exit from the Champions League at the hands of Schalke, and their tumble to third in the Serie A standings after a 3-0 thrashing by fierce rivals AC Milan.

The president believes a tired squad is responsible for the club’s predicament.

“I don’t think Leonardo has changed much. I think he did fantastically well up to the derby against Milan,” Moratti said.

“We expected a great result, but the big mistake was sending the players away to play with their national teams, and having them come back convinced they were in peak form, when they were actually very tired.”

“Everything went wrong from there. The coach has tried to do what it has been necessary to do and he usually does his job very well, as far as I’m concerned.”

“We are going through a crisis period at the moment and everything has been highlighted even more from the outside.”

“As far as I’m concerned, we’re considering this moment for what it is: we’ve had a drop in form mainly due to physical and mental tiredness. Therefore we have not been playing well in our recent matches.”

Inter have a chance to pick themselves up on Tuesday when they take on Roma in the first leg of their Coppa Italia semi-final at the Stadio Olimpico.