Source: Daily_Mail
Inter Milan to join race for Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez...if Jose Mourinho leaves
Rafa Benitez's uncertain Liverpool future is about to be further complicated by an approach from Inter Milan. [LNB]The Liverpool manager is already testing Juventus' patience by keeping them waiting for an answer to their recent overtures, and there have also been suggestions AC Milan may turn to him to succeed the seemingly-doomed Leonardo. [LNB]But Sportsmail understands any interest from Milan will come from Inter, not AC. [LNB] Uncertainty: Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez[LNB]Inter owner and president Massimo Moratti is bracing himself for the end of the Jose Mourinho era at the San Siro, with victory for Inter in the Champions' League final likely to rubberstamp the former Chelsea manager's departure for Real Madrid. [LNB]Mourinho already looks a certainty for the Real post in the next few weeks, but beating Bayern Munich in the Bernabeu and making Inter European champions for the first time in 45 years, would remove any lingering shred of doubt.[LNB]Moratti is on the look-out for a successor and is weighing up a move for Benitez, according to reports in Italy, after concluding he needs a proven, experienced coach to continue the strides Mourinho has made and safeguard Inter's place as the country's top team. [LNB]An Inter bid to pip Juventus for Benitez would cause uproar in Turin, due to the two clubs' bitter rivalry, but that would not deter Moratti, who can offer the Spaniard Champions' League football next season and a healthy transfer budget.[LNB] Real deal? Inter Milan boss Jose Mourinho is wanted by Real Madrid[LNB]Claims that he is on their radar are further reinforced by the influence of former Middlesbrough striker Marco Branca, currently head of technical staff at Inter and a confirmed admirer of Benitez.[LNB]With the ongoing uncertainty adding to dressing room unrest at Anfield, and placing a question mark over the futures of Fernando Torres, Steven Gerrard and Javier Mascherano, chairman Martin Broughton will want answers from Benitez when they sit down for their second meeting later this week. [LNB]Mourinho's likely arrival at the Bernabeu will only heighten the prospects of Real finally winning a long-running pursuit of Gerrard, who has only remained at Anfield this long due to unswerving loyalty to his home club. [LNB] Liverpool's slide could be irreversible, says Blackburn supremo Sam AllardyceChelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti: We don't need £70m Fernando TorresRafa Benitez to walk alone as Europe's top clubs eye Liverpool boss [LNB]
