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Mourinho named as new Inter Milan coach

ROME, June 2 – Jose Mourinho was on Monday named as the new coach of Inter Milan, the Italian club announced.

The 45-year-old Portuguese former Chelsea manager signed a three-year contract.

Inter did not reveal the value of Mourinho’s contract, but the Italian press have speculated that the coach would earn almost nine million euros (14 million dollars) a season.

"F.C. Internazionale announces the arrival of Jose Mourinho," the club said on inter.it.

"The Portuguese coach has signed a three-year contract and will work alongside Rui Farias, Silvino and Andrei Villas Boas."

Mourinho’s assistant coach will be former Inter and Italy midfielder Giuseppe Baresi, previously in charge of the club’s youth teams, it added.

Mourinho replaces Roberto Mancini who was sacked as coach of the Serie A champions on Thursday, despite having just led them to a third successive league title.

"Thanking Roberto Mancini and his staff for the success obtained in four seasons as the leader of the team, all of Internazionale has the great pleasure to welcome Jose Mourinho and his coaches," the club said.

Mourinho has been out of the game since leaving Chelsea by mutual consent early last season.

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He had won two Premier League titles with the London club, the FA Cup and two League Cups in just over three seasons.

Before that he coached FC Porto to the Champions League crown, UEFA Cup, two league titles and a Portuguese Cup in an incredible two-year period from 2002-2004.

Having worked as an assistant to Dutchman Louis van Gaal at Barcelona and then gone on to enjoy great success in Portugal and England, the self-proclaimed ‘Special One’ had said after leaving Chelsea that his next destination would be either Italy or Germany.

And ever since Mancini announced, somewhat prematurely, after Inter’s Champions League exit to Liverpool in early March that he was leaving at the end of the season – he retracted that statement a day later – speculation boomed linking Mourinho to Inter.

Italian press claimed that Mourinho has been learning the language for six months.

They also speculated that he will be handed a 100 million-euro war chest to play with in the summer in a bid to recruit players that can inspire Inter to Champions League glory.

A raid on his former club Chelsea is likely with hard-working players such as Michael Essien, Ricardo Carvalho and Frank Lampard being touted as possible transfer targets.

It is in Europe, however, that Mourinho will be expected to succeed, as his predecessor at the nerazzurri failed to do.

Mancini was sacked largely for his failure to even get close to winning Europe’s premier competition, which many believe to be the same reason that Mourinho was all but forced out at Chelsea and one of the reasons his successor Avram Grant had his contract terminated at the end of last season.

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There is no doubt that Mourinho will be expected to deliver that most prestigious of trophies during his three-year tenure and if he does not come even close in his first season, his reign may even be brief.

It can be expected, then, that there will be a fair turnaround of personnel at Inter this summer.

Already Mourinho has brought in his favoured back-room staff and, in keeping with his tactic at Chelsea, he has appointed a local hero as a number two – Steve Clarke at Chelsea and Giuseppe Baresi at Inter.

What remains to be seen now is how Mourinho will take to certain established stars at Inter, such as the mercurially gifted but lazy Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the diminished Patrick Vieira and the controversial Marco Materazzi.

It will be an intriguing summer at the San Siro.

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