Internazionale have earmarked Jose Mourinho as their primary target should Roberto Mancini follow through with his threat to quit the club this summer, although the president, Massimo Moratti, said last night that he believed his coach would have a change of heart.

Mancini said he would leave at the end of the season after Inter’s elimination from the Champions League at the hands of Liverpool at San Siro. But La Gazzetta dello Sport said on its website that the two had met last night and that Moratti felt he had persuaded Mancini to change his mind. “I had a talk with Mancini and he told me he wants to stay at Inter next season and for all the length of his contract,” Moratti said. “He wants to win the Champions League with Inter next season. The situation is completely different to the one referred to me and to the team this morning.”

Mourinho, who left Chelsea in September, expects to return to football at “a top-flight European club” in the summer, having last week reiterated his desire to work in Spain or Italy. Moratti had spoken of his admiration of the Portuguese, saying three days ago: “Mourinho? I appreciate him, without doubt.” Inter would appeal to Mourinho, with the club boasting the resources and pedigree to entice him back to the dug-out. “I respect Mr Moratti very much as a person who loves football and his club deeply,” he said last week. “However, I have never talked with him.”

Mourinho’s personal adviser, Eladio Parames, said that the 45-year-old would “definitely be managing a top-flight club in Europe next season”. Mourinho has been linked with numerous high-profile positions, not least at Barcelona and Real Madrid in Spain. However any chance of him taking over at the European Cup holders, Milan, appeared to be dashed when the owner, Silvio Berlusconi, indicated his instinct would be to stick with the current coach, Carlo Ancelotti, for the time being.

Mancini, in charge at Inter since 2004, took training as usual yesterday without talking to reporters. Moratti said before last night’s meeting he hoped the saga would not affect the team, six points clear in Serie A: “The team, the club, he himself and the fans don’t deserve a situation that could destabilise the environment. So let’s stay strong and do well. It might have been a heroic decision. We will see.”

Moratti had said he was perplexed by the sudden decision and said there had been no falling out between the pair. “It was surprising. Of course I wasn’t expecting it and neither were those who are close to him,” he said. “There’s faith in him. We need to see if he has faith in himself.”