Mourinho was also friendly to Leonardo's position. He thought that the Brazilian might win at Inter Milan. However, towards his old rival Benitez in the Premier League, Mourinho had more sarcasm. "Leonardo reminds me of Mourinho. I see some very good cards, basketball from Bogou, attention to details, enthusiasm and sense of responsibility," Moratti said. "When we chose Benitez, it seemed like he had the experience needed to handle various situations, but everyone's ability to bear pressure is still different." "Indeed, we considered Leonardo in June, but at that time, it didn't seem suitable because he planned to take a break after leaving AC Milan," Moratti revealed to Gazzetta dello Sport. After leading the team to win the Club World Cup, Benitez officially parted ways with Inter Milan. The Spaniard lost his job after only 6 months of coaching at Inter Milan. Subsequently, Inter Milan's chairman Moratti invited the Brazilian Leonardo, and even stated that Leonardo was the first choice for the new head coach at the beginning of the season. "I think Leo is the natural successor of Mourinho, and he has enough ability to shoulder this heavy burden." "In fact, the day before the Club World Cup, I was still trying to make the team feel that they were on the side of the coach, and never involved them in these decisions." "I think it is wrong to openly demand the introduction of players, which would put Benitez in trouble," Moratti continued. "I also think he should follow his own path and continue to grow. Returning to Inter Milan can also lead to growth, but I feel he wouldn't consider it now, and neither do we." "He enjoys being a coach very much, and I can assure AC Milan's fans that when talking about the past, he always expresses it in a very positive way." Leonardo officially took over on Christmas Eve, and his first official game after taking over will be against Napoli on January 6. "Was it easy to convince him to take over? Although he had some doubts, we soon reached an agreement. But among these doubts, there was no inclusion of whether he would be seen as a 'traitor' by AC Milan, because he is obviously not." One of the main reasons for Benitez's failure at Inter Milan was losing control of the dressing room. Compared to his predecessor Mourinho, the players clearly lacked enough respect for Benitez. "Will there be a day when we see them both serving at Inter Milan? I believe Mourinho also wants to return to this club, just like he does for Chelsea, having special feelings."