Mancini clarifies Mourinho comments: I didn't say he won at Inter because of me

The Galatasaray boss says his quotes were blown out of proportion, but admits that he would like to coach Italy one day

Roberto Mancini has moved to clarify comments he made about Jose Mourinho, insisting that he did not claim he was responsible for the Portuguese’s treble triumph at Inter.

The Galatasaray coach recently claimed that Mourinho’s success at San Siro was in part due to the fact that he had inherited a “good” squad from him, while at the same time arguing that he had “built” the Manchester City side Manuel Pellegrini is currently attempting to lead to a quadruple.

Mourinho responded by saying that Mancini had left him with a “five-a-side team” at Inter but the Italian has now attempted to defuse the row by claiming that his quotes were blown out of proportion.

“I never said that Mourinho won because of me,” the 49-year-old told Radio Deejay.

“I was just asked a question about the Portuguese and Pellegrini and I simply said that when they arrived at Inter and City have found teams that were already accustomed to winning.

“My relationship with Mourinho? We are colleagues. We limit ourselves to greetings.”

Meanwhile, Mancini, who only took charge of Galatasaray in September, has hinted that he would be interested in taking the Italy job should current coach Cesare Prandelli stand down after this summer’s World Cup.

“The Italian national team are among the best in the world, so it’s a nice thing to train them,” he mused.

“I don’t know what the future holds for Prandelli, but it’s clear that I would very much like to train them.

“At the moment, however, it is a problem that will not arise because I’m happy here in Turkey.”

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