Inter confident of repelling Real bid for Mourinho
MILAN (Reuters) - Serie A champions Inter Milan are confident of hanging on to Jose Mourinho after media reported that Real Madrid want to lure the Portuguese coach away from them, club president Massimo Moratti said.
Spanish media said Real presidential candidate Florentino Perez had targeted Mourinho, who clinched the Serie A title last weekend in his maiden season in Italy.
Perez will bid to regain the presidency of the nine-times European champions next month.
"The news from Spain reached us immediately but our coach has assured me that he does not want to leave Milan," Moratti was quoted as saying by Thursday''s La Gazzetta dello Sport.
"I want to believe in our coach''s word. In the past he has proved his seriousness, he has already shown that he never betrays his word.
"He is too serious a professional to do something of the sort."
Former Chelsea and Porto boss Mourinho, whose contract with Inter runs until 2011, has previously said that it is 100 percent certain that he will stay at the club next season.