Inter Milan to confirm Rafael Benitez sacking with Leonardo lined up as replacement at San Siro
The end of Rafael Benitez’s six-month reign at Inter Milan will be confirmed on Wednesday, with the former Brazilian international Leonardo - who spent last season in charge of the club’s fierce rivals AC Milan - expected to replace the former Liverpool manager.
Inter Milan set to confirm Rafael Benitez sacking with Leonardo lined up as replacement at San Siro
Despite the insistence on Tuesday of the club’s owner, Massimo Moratti, that Benitez “is still manager of Inter,” it is believed the Spaniard was informed he would be dismissed by email late on Monday night. Inter are thought to have spent Tuesday drawing up the terms of his departure, with their decision to be made official on Wednesday.
Benitez is likely to be given a golden handshake worth around £6 million - a similar figure to that which he received after leaving Liverpool in June - while his pay-off is expected to contain a clause forbidding him from managing another club in the next six months.
Though Moratti - who has spent some £600 million and appointed 14 coaches since taking over at San Siro in 1995 - was infuriated by Benitez’s ill-timed demand for funds in the January transfer window in the aftermath of Inter’s victory in the Club World Cup on Saturday, the pair’s relationship had been strained for some time.
Benitez had felt let down by the club’s failure to strengthen their squad after his arrival as replacement for Jose Mourinho - under whom the Italian side won an unprecedented domestic and European treble last season - despite being promised funds to move for the likes of Dirk Kuyt and Javier Mascherano, his former charges at Anfield.
His persistent attempts to bolster his squad are thought to have led to an uneasy relationship with Inter’s senior players. Benitez was unimpressed with the physical condition of much of the squad he inherited from Mourinho, with his more exacting physical work received anything but warmly by an ageing dressing room.
Crucial to his departure, though, were clashes with Moratti over the power of Inter’s medical staff, blamed by Benitez for the injury crisis which robbed the former Valencia manager of many of his senior players after an impressive start to his time in Italy, including a 4-0 destruction of Werder Bremen in the Champions League group stages.
That performance, though, seemed a distant memory by the time Benitez and his players returned to Malpensa airport last weekend after overcoming African champions TP Mazembe to win the Club World Cup, making the Spaniard the first manager to win trophies in England, Italy and Spain.
Inter lie seventh in Serie A, 13 points adrift of Milan - although they do boast two games in hand - and despite qualifying for the knockout phase of the Champions League, the tournament’s reigning champions did so only after chastening defeats in Bremen and at Tottenham.
Moratti is now likely to hand Leonardo the chance to become only the third man - alongside Giovanni Trapattoni and Alberto Zaccheroni - to manage both Milan sides. The Brazilian is likely to be placed in temporary charge until the end of the season, when he is expected to move into a directorial role.
Should that deal fall through, Moratti is likely to turn to the club’s former goalkeeper, Walter Zenga, and former player Beppe Baresi, in a caretaker capacity.
Benitez’s long-term replacement remains less clear. Moratti is widely thought to harbour hopes of tempting Pep Guardiola, the Barcelona manager, from Spain in an attempt to lure Lionel Messi to Serie A. Guardiola, out of contract this summer, is yet to sign an extension at Camp Nou.
Though Moratti on Tuesday insisted he had not spoken to any potential candidates to succeed Benitez, it has been widely reported in Italy that Luciano Spalletti, the one-time Roma coach who last month won the Russian championship with Zenit St Petersburg, could return to Serie A, while it has been suggested he has discussed the position with both Arsene Wenger and Fabio Capello.
