Roberto Mancini is “proud I was the Coach who changed Inter’s history” and admits he would be “contractually obliged” to return if Jose Mourinho left.
The tactician won three titles on the trot – including the Scudetto handed down through the Calciopoli courts – two Coppa Italia trophies and two Italian Super Cups, but was fired in the summer.
Now some newspapers suggest Mancio could return after Mourinho failed to progress any further than he did in the Champions League.
“I am proud of one thing, that I was the Coach who was able to change the history of a side like Inter,” he told RAI Due show L’Era Glaciale.
“I haven’t read the newspapers in a long time, so I wouldn’t know what is happening there now. It is not true that President [Massimo] Moratti alerted me to the possibility of a return. We have met up for another matter, but not for this.
“In any case, I am under contract for the next three years, but I don’t think Inter need a Coach right now. If they did recall me, then I would be contractually obliged to come back.
“In football anything can happen. Many players have been sacked and recalled.”
The odds of Mancini coming back to Inter are nonetheless slim, as legal action continues between the two parties over the terms of the contract following his dismissal.
“The statement released by the club was not a good one. It was ugly and cold,” he explained. “Moratti certainly didn’t write it, but somebody wasn’t up to the task. After four years of work and seven trophies, it was better to leave on good terms.”
In the statement Inter tried to suggest they were forced into the decision because of Mancini’s announcement he would quit in the wake of their Champions League exit to Liverpool back in March 2008.
“I don’t know if I necessarily regret those comments, as if I said it then there was a good reason. In certain situations a Coach wants the President to intervene, but I had no problem with the team or the patron.”
Mancini is unable to work for another club until his contract situation with Inter is resolved, but he is keeping an eye on the future.
“If I were to return to management then my first choice would without doubt be Sampdoria. It’s the club that is in my heart,” said the man who played for the Blucerchiati from 1989-97.
“The greatest thing in Italian football today is the match itself, but the talk surrounding the sport has deteriorated badly.
“There are always things said and written just to create a news story, trying to stoke controversy between players and Coaches. There is precious little said about the football itself. In the last 10 years the standard of journalism in Italy has gone downhill.”
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