Banega thrilled to repay Sevilla's faith as Inter speculation goes on

Ever Banega was thrilled to reward Sevilla for their faith in him by helping the club to a third straight Europa League title and refused to discuss his potential move to Inter.

The 27-year-old started the match in Basle as Unai Emery's men made history with a 3-1 victory over Liverpool and was only replaced deep into stoppage time.

Banega has been heavily linked with a move to Inter and the Serie A side's head coach Roberto Mancini indicated this week that a deal had been done, even though the player's contract status is unclear with Sevilla believing his appearances have triggered a one-year extension until the end of 2016-17.

But the Argentina international was only interested in discussing Sevilla's success after the match as he made it two Europa League medals in as many seasons since joining from Valencia in August 2014.

"Inter? I repeat, I only want to talk about Sevilla because of the respect I have for this club," Banega said to Sky Italia.

"We still have to play an important game against Barcelona and I am very grateful to Sevilla because they helped me at a particularly difficult moment in my career.

"They gave me a lot of faith and I wanted to return it. Now I'm only thinking about this club - I have a lot of respect for them.

"I'm happy for the fans, we are delighted about this victory, the third in a row for us.

"The first half wasn't simple at all, but then we improved. Unai Emery didn't need to motivate us at half-time, we knew we could win and still had 45 minutes to play."

Following their success, Sevilla face Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final at Vicente Calderon on Sunday.

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Banega thrilled to repay Sevilla's faith as Inter speculation goes on

Ever Banega was thrilled to reward Sevilla for their faith in him by helping the club to a third straight Europa League title and refused to discuss his potential move to Inter.

The 27-year-old started the match in Basle as Unai Emery's men made history with a 3-1 victory over Liverpool and was only replaced deep into stoppage time.

Banega has been heavily linked with a move to Inter and the Serie A side's head coach Roberto Mancini indicated this week that a deal had been done, even though the player's contract status is unclear with Sevilla believing his appearances have triggered a one-year extension until the end of 2016-17.

But the Argentina international was only interested in discussing Sevilla's success after the match as he made it two Europa League medals in as many seasons since joining from Valencia in August 2014.

"Inter? I repeat, I only want to talk about Sevilla because of the respect I have for this club," Banega said to Sky Italia.

"We still have to play an important game against Barcelona and I am very grateful to Sevilla because they helped me at a particularly difficult moment in my career.

"They gave me a lot of faith and I wanted to return it. Now I'm only thinking about this club - I have a lot of respect for them.

"I'm happy for the fans, we are delighted about this victory, the third in a row for us.

"The first half wasn't simple at all, but then we improved. Unai Emery didn't need to motivate us at half-time, we knew we could win and still had 45 minutes to play."

Following their success, Sevilla face Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final at Vicente Calderon on Sunday.

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Marseille resigned to losing Batshuayi

Marseille caretaker coach Franck Passi expects Michy Batshuayi to leave the Ligue 1 side at the end of the season amid interest from Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham and West Ham.

The Belgium international joined OM from Standard Liege in August 2014 and has since become the club's undisputed number nine.

Batshuayi sits fourth in the Ligue 1 goalscoring charts heading into the final matchday with 17 goals in 36 appearances and his good performances have not gone unnoticed.

Several Premier League sides are keeping a close eye on the 22-year-old's situation and Marseille seem ready to cash in on their star attacker.

"The entire world knows Batshuayi will leave Marseille," Passi said at a news conference.

"That's part of Marseille's current predicament. We know why players leave Marseille. It's a matter of money.

"You have to make do with what you have."

Batshuayi has a contract with Marseille until June 2020.

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Indonesia want Mourinho as national team coach

Indonesia have set out on the ambitious task of appointing Jose Mourinho as their new national team coach, according to youth and sports minister Imam Nahrawi.

Indonesia - ranked 185th in the world - are banned by FIFA from competing in international fixtures, including qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup and 2019 Asian Cup, due to the government's interference in the country's national league last year.

Nahrawi said he is keen to return enthusiasm in Indonesia's national team, starting with appointing an experienced foreign coach to take over the reins. 

"This plan has been discussed with President Joko Widodo and the Chairman of the Indonesian Olympics Committee, Erick Thohir, even though this won't be easy," Nahrawi said on Tuesday.

"Our national team head coach must be a foreigner, accompanied with our local coaches as his assistant."

Thohir, who is also the president of Serie A outfit Inter - where Mourinho coached between 2008 and 2010 - advised Nahrawi about the Portuguese's salary expectations. 

"When I asked Erick, Mourinho's salary is about Rp250 billion [equivalent to £13million or EUR16.5million] per year," Nahrawi said. 

Thohir also threw another name into the mix if Indonesia fails to land the self-proclaimed 'special one'.

"The motivation is that we want to awaken the fighting spirit of the players," Nahrawi added. "If Mr. Erick said not Jose Mourinho, but Guus Hiddink instead."

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