Mourinho eyes his old charges

The Inter Milan coach is looking to raid Chelsea for the services of his fellow Portuguese countrymen Deco and Ricardo Carvalho.

Having just taken the job last summer, Inter Milan manager Jose Mourinho publicly courted Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard, before the England man signed a new contract with the London club. However, the Portuguese has not been deterred and has again turned his attention to his former club, this time eyeing his countrymen Deco and Ricardo Carvalho. "Mourinho has asked us for Deco and Carvalho and we are working towards making him happy," said Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti in an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport.

"Our wish is to sign both players and I have seen that the players' intention is to join us. We still haven't reached an agreement with Chelsea but I think we will do in a short time." Mourinho is familiar with centre-back Carvalho and midfielder Deco having coached both players at Porto. Carvalho, 31, moved to Chelsea in 2004 to work again under Mourinho. "We are interested in Carvalho primarily for the Champions League," said Moratti. "He is calm under pressure and brings experience in the defensive line. Our coach has guaranteed quality and I have every intention to make him happy.

"Deco will have two tasks: to do well immediately and to help [Phillipe] Coutinho mature as a player," said Moratti. Brazilian Coutinho, 17, will arrive at Inter from Vasco da Gama next season. Elsewhere, newly promoted Wolves have signed Serbia midfielder Nenad Milijas, 26, from Red Star Belgrade for an undisclosed fee. Milijas, who stands 6ft 2ins, was the player of the year in the Serbian league last season.

* With agencies