AC Milan coach Sinisa Mihajlovic has rubbished talk of him leaving the Rossoneri after just one season, as his touted replacement Eusebio Di Francesco says he might stay with Sassuolo.
Di Francesco's Sassuolo beat Milan 2-0 on Sunday to move to within three points of their rivals in the race for Serie A's final Europa League qualifying berth, and his name has often been linked with the Milan post.
That defeat conversely renewed doubts as to whether Mihajlovic is the right man for Milan, and there were reports in Italy on Monday suggesting that he was coming to the same conclusion and contemplating stepping down at the end of the season, having confided as much to a friend in Coverciano at an awards ceremony.
"It's only right that we say things how they are and I don't want to give any publicity to who raised [the rumour], but I want to make it clear that I did not speak with anybody in Coverciano on Monday," Mihajlovic told Milan Channel.
"I have a contract with Milan and I think we are laying the foundations for a successful future for Milan. I'm sorry that it's taken just one defeat to raise all these rumours about my future yet again.
"I'm here with a clear conscience and I will carry on with my head held high. I'm sorry, and I say it again, that just one defeat has revived these rumours, but there are two things in this world that I have always had and they are balls and my word, and I have still got both of them.
"First of all, I am a man, then a coach and if anybody has any doubts, they should ask the president. You can doubt me as a coach if you like, but not as a man."
A rumoured third managerial change at Milan in just over two years is not going to distract Di Francesco from his ambition of leading Sassuolo into Europe -- a challenge he is willing to continue into next season if he does not succeed this term.
"Who's to say that I'm going to leave Sassuolo?" he told Lapresse. "I'm serene about these rumours because this is a serious club with good people. I know that I'm at a healthy club and it is far more important for me to feel this than to aim to get somewhere else.
"Obviously I want to improve, but I'm totally serene about it. At the moment, I have the serenity to continue doing what I am doing with Sassuolo and maybe I will have it in the years to come also. I'm happy in these surroundings and I know that we can have huge margin for growth here."