Inter set to appoint former player Chivu as manager to replace Inzaghi

Inter Milan will appoint their former player and youth coach Cristian Chivu as manager to replace the recently departed Simone Inzaghi once details are worked out with his current club Parma, Inter president Giuseppe Marotta said on Friday.

Inzaghi left Inter on Tuesday, four years to the day since his appointment and three days after his side suffered a 5-0 defeat to Paris St Germain in the Champions League final to end the season trophyless, and was named coach of Al-Hilal a day later.

Italian media reports had already named Chivu as the new manager with the 44-year-old Romanian set to sign a two-year contract, and Marotta, speaking at the Serie A Festival, all but confirmed the news.

"To win, money alone is not enough, expertise, planning, experience, and many other qualities are needed," Marotta said.

"All these qualities are what we believe to have, for example in the case of Chivu. I'm saying this because I cannot give official confirmation as there is a bureaucratic aspect we need to overcome with Parma."

While Inzaghi arrived at Inter after being in charge of Lazio for five full seasons, winning a Coppa Italia and two Italian Super Cups with the Rome-based team, the club are now putting their faith in a coach with very little coaching experience at this level.

Chivu spent seven seasons as a defender at Inter, ending his playing career at the club in 2014 and was part of Jose Mourinho's treble-winning side of 2010.

He returned to Inter in 2018, taking charge of underage teams and moving up through the ranks to manage the youth team where he won the league title in his first season in charge in 2022.

Chivu left Inter at the end of the 2023-24 season, and in February this year he took on his first senior managerial role when he was named Parma manager to replace Fabio Pecchia with the club in the Serie A relegation zone.

Parma had lost five of their last six games under Pecchia, while Chivu suffered just three defeats in his 13 matches in charge, securing the club's survival with a win at Atalanta on the final day of the season.

Chivu has little time to settle in with the Club World Cup fast approaching where Inter begin the tournament on June 17 when they take on Mexicos' Monterrey in Los Angeles followed by two games in Seattle against Urawa Red Diamonds and River Plate.