Inter Milan coach Roberto Mancini is delighted with the arrival of new signing Maniche from Atletico Madrid.

"Maniche is a midfielder of great experience, a Portuguese international and can certainly be useful," said Mancini.

"If we had not lost Walter Samuel for the season, we probably wouldn't have made any changes on the transfer market.

"Dejan Stankovic and Patrick Vieira are recovering, but losing Samuel and Olivier Dacourt for the whole campaign meant we risked what happened last term at Valencia - missing important players and hitting problems.

"Maniche can either play or sit on the bench, just like everyone else in the squad, but he can prove useful. It was very important that he was not cup-tied and so is eligible for the Champions League."