Rafa Benitez dismissed speculation he's about to be fired from Inter Milan, saying Monday that he still has a ''good relationship'' with club President Massimo Moratti and is focused on improving the team after the winter break.
After Italian media reported that Moratti has decided to sack the Spaniard despite Inter winning the Club World Cup on Saturday, Benitez told Spanish radio station Onda Cero that ''no, I have not been fired.''
''I am surprised because I have seen a lot of headlines of newspapers and I have been phoned by a lot of people asking me if I have been fired, and that is not true at all,'' Benitez said from Liverpool, where he has gone on vacation. ''These are rumors that have been around for some time, but the only thing that I can say is that I am on holiday, and I want to rest so I can come back soon.''
The former Liverpool manager was hired by Inter in the offseason to replace Jose Mourinho, who led the club to the Serie A, Italian Cup and Champions League titles last season. The team has struggled under Benitez, however, sitting seventh in the standings, 13 points behind city rival AC Milan.
Benitez then reportedly angered club officials when he said after Saturday's 3-0 win over TP Mazembe in the Club World Cup final that the board should either fully support him and buy new players in January, or let him go.
On Monday, leading sports daily La Gazzetta dello Sport ran the front-page headline ''Benitez is Out.''
Moratti declined comment Monday.
''Stay relaxed. I'm not going to speak today, I don't want to create arguments with anyone,'' Moratti told reporters waiting outside his offices.
Benitez said he spoke to Moratti after the victory in Abu Dhabi and voiced his desire to sign new players.
''We have a good relationship. We have never had a problem,'' Benitez said. ''When we spoke on the phone, we spoke about the team, he told me that the players and former players told him that it was the best football that Inter had played in the last 15 to 20 years, that we were the Barcelona of Italy.
''Inter can be even better ... and for that to happen, I think it is convenient to sign players. In a team that wins, that wins so much, it needs competition in the roster.''
Benitez said he expects to return to Italy after the holidays - and still have a job.
''I am not the owner of my future, but being where I am, I will work to the maximum so that the team continues to win,'' he said. ''It is a historical institution that cannot stop going forward.''
