Coventry City have signed two Inter Milan players on loan and a bigger fish could follow.

Coventry’s chairman Bryan Richardson confirmed he had clinched the signings of goalkeeper Raffaele Nuzzo, 26, and 18 year old midfielder Antonino Caruso. They will stay at Highfield Road for twelve months.

Richardson has also been linked with Inter’s tough tackling defender Mauro Milanese, 27, who won a UEFA Cup medal with Parma in 1997-98.

He would be a big catch for the club. He stands well over six feet tall and would present a massive barrier with the big Bosnian centreback Mo Konjic.

Manager Gordon Strachan clearly believes he needs extra strength in the defence department, but he also is in need of more strike power.

The club is still negotiating a fee with Venezia for striker Stefano Gioacchini, who had three months on loan at Coventry last season.

Milanese was born in Trieste, and has played 109 matches in Serie A. He reached the top league in 1994 when he joined Cremonese and he went on to play for Torino, Napoli and Parma in successive seasons. He was signed by Inter midway through last season. He is under contract to the Italian club until June 2002.