Inter Milan captain Mauro Icardi has said that he wants an Italian manager to take charge following the sacking of Dutchman Frank de Boer.
Former Lazio boss Stefano Pioli and ex-West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola are the current front-runners for the role, with an "?official statement claiming that a new boss will be appointed within 48 hours.
Icardi told Mediaset: "If we get an Italian coach it would be better, because he would know the Italian league.
"It's nearly Christmas and we have no more time to lose. We still want to qualify for the Champions League, and we need to keep doing well and see where we are in May."
"?Reports in Italy claim that Pioli has already been confirmed as the new Inter boss, but nothing official has been released so far.
Stefano Pioli will be new #Inter manager. His contract will be completed soon.
Caretaker coach Stefano Vecchi has conceded that he will go back to working with the youth team, effectively ruling himself out of the running for the permanent first-team role.
"I should go back to working with the youth team now," he told Mediaset after guiding Inter to a 3-0 win over Crotone. "I say should because they haven't told me anything yet, but it's certain that somebody else will arrive -- let's say 99.99 percent."
The victory over Crotone lifts Inter into ninth following a poor start the season, which has been marred by Mauro Icardi's souring relationship with the club's ultras, who have sent death threats to the Argentine forward after he wrote negatively about them in his recent autobiography.