Dubai: "Back me or sack me". Four words that have come back to haunt Rafa Benitez.
According to reports from Italy, Inter Milan have agreed to act upon the second part of his statement and are trying to get rid of their coach without paying compensation. The Spaniard is entitled to a year's salary — around Dh18.68million — which would be doubled once Inter pay tax. President Massimo Moratti has reportedly sought legal advice to see whether Benitez's surprising attack on the club following their win in the Fifa Club World Club would give Inter enough cause to sack him.
Moratti briefly spoke with reporters at lunchtime but denied that Benitez had been shown the door, even as rumours about the Spaniard being fired by email did the rounds. "We are trying to understand what's going on, this situation is a bit of a mess," Moratti said.
"Everything that happened was a bit unexpected, we are considering every point of view."
The 50-year-old, who has been under attack ever since he took over from the treble-winning Jose Mourinho, blew his top in Abu Dhabi over Moratti's refusal to grant him the players he had asked for at the start of the season. "There are three possibilities for the club. One, 100 per cent support for the coach and buy four or five players to build a stronger team with competition among the players to be able to carry on winning matches and trophies. Two, carry on like this without a project, without planning, and go ahead with one person to blame, for the whole season. The third, is to speak to my agent to reach an agreement if there is not this support. Simple," he had said.
Wrong timing
Moratti, it is understood, is of the opinion that if Mourinho could win the treble last year, there's no reason why Benitez can't do well with the same set of players. Incidentally, the former Liverpool manager has been quiet so far, despite attacks over Inter's performance in Serie A, where they are languishing seventh, 13 points behind leaders AC Milan, albeit having played two games less. He must have hoped this was the right time to hit back having just won his first trophy, but his rant seems to have backfired big time.
Former AC Milan coach Leonardo is reportedly hot favourite to be given the nod until the end of the season with an option of an extra season in charge. Moratti, however, denied having talked to the Brazilian. "I haven't had a way of talking to any other coach. I haven't met Leonardo," he said.
