According to Express, Inter Milan could sign Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone this summer to replace Roberto Mancini. It is understood that with Italy manager Antonio Conte set to take over at Chelsea before the start of the 2016/17 season, the Azzurri may approach Mancini to take up the job.
If Mancini accepts the job to coach Italy, Inter want to continue rebuilding the team with Simeone as coach as they look to return to the Champions League. the San Siro club are currently in fifth place in Serie A and will not qualify for the Champions League unless they finish in the top three.
The report states that Inter’s Indonesian president Erick Thohir is ready to spend as much as required to bring Inter back to the continental competition. Inter were winners of the trophy back in 2010 when Jose Mourinho was in charge as they completed a treble.
How Donald Trump could be involved
Thohir is reportedly ready to part with as much as €15.6m a season and sign Simeone on a five-year deal. The amount €78m deal would make him one of the highest-paid managers in the world, only behind Pep Guardiola when he moves to Manchester City this summer.
But with Financial Fair Play also a factor, Thohir is looking for investment from the United States with Proto Group Ltd lined up to invest. The group is named after Italian real-estate businessman Alessandro Proto and even US presidential candidate Donald Trump is involved with the group.
The group had already tried to buy Colombian football club Atletico Nacional for a fee of $100 million in 2015.
So for Simeone to get such a contract, Chelsea would have to sign Conte from the Italian national team who would then, in turn, convince Mancini to leave Inter.
Mancini not ready to leave Inter
Although Conte’s move to Chelsea could see a managerial merry-go-round, Mancini himself claimed that he was not yet ready to manage the Italian national team. Last weekend, Mancini was asked about the prospect of taking over as Azzurri boss after Euro 2016 and he said he was only thinking about his project at Inter at this time.
“I am happy here at this moment and my thoughts are only on Inter for now and next season,” Mancini said.
“In [the] future of course it’d be wonderful to be on the national bench, but it seems a bit early.
“I’ve always had the support of everyone here at Inter. It takes time to build a team.”
