Carles Puyol turns down chance to be Roberto Mancini's assistant at Inter

Carles Puyol has rejected an offer from the new Inter Milan manager, Roberto Mancini, to become his assistant at the Seria A club, according to 'La Gazzetta dello Sport'.

Mancini called Puyol personally - despite not knowing him - on Monday with the object of explaining his proposal.

It seems that Puyol did take a couple of days to think about the offer, although he eventually decided not to take it up for a few different reasons.

Firstly, the former Barcelona defender has still not taken all his coaching badges; he has no experience as a manager - despite being an expert leader on the pitch - and that would also be a handicap, he felt.

But also, among other reasons, because of his strong ties with Barcelona. He has only just began his new job working alongside Andoni Zubizarreta.