Mallorca hoping to lure back Cuper
 |  Cuper would be a popular choice to return as Mallorca coach |
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MADRID, Spain -- Primera Liga strugglers Real Mallorca are hoping to persuade former coach Hector Cuper to rejoin the club as a permanent replacement for Benito Floro, who was sacked this week.
"Our idea of getting Cuper to coach Mallorca started the very day he left the club," said president Mateu Alemany.
"I don't want to get people's hopes up because it will be difficult to achieve but he has a real soft spot for Mallorca."
Cuper's agent Alejandro Camano was more optimistic about the chances of his client rejoining the Primera Liga side.
"Mallorca is the first club we have talked to," he said. "He likes the idea of returning to Mallorca but he has five offers and I have to listen to all of them."
The 48-year-old Argentine, who coached Inter Milan between 2001 and 2003, was in charge of the Spanish side between 1997 and 1999.
He took them to the final of the Spanish Cup, the final of the European Cup Winners' Cup and to a best-ever third-place finish in the league.
Cuper moved to Valencia in 1999 following the departure of Claudio Ranieri and took a team with little pedigree in Europe to two successive Champions League finals, losing to Real Madrid in 2000 and Bayern Munich in 2001.
Cuper replaced Marco Tardelli at Inter Milan in 2001 and set them up for a chance at winning the Serie A title the following season only to watch them fall at the final hurdle when they lost their last match to Lazio.
Inter finished second again in 2003, but Cuper was sacked in October of the same year after the side went four successive Serie A matches without a win.
