I Am Scouted by Real Madrid

Chapter 708: Chapter 11: Goals Galore

”Even if he leads the club to achieve the Triple Crown, what of it.”

”His personality ensures he won’t last long here.”

The power struggle between the coach and the general manager is inevitable under the coexistence management system of Spanish clubs’ coaches and general managers.

The ”power struggle” between Valdano and Mourinho has also reached a fever pitch.

Benzema, Van Nistelrooy, are the subjects of their new round of ”discourse power” contention.

And shortly after Mourinho made his remarks, rumors surfaced about the dismissal of this famous Portuguese coach.

This rumor seems rather senseless, after all, Mourinho has led Real Madrid to remarkable performances across all three fronts this season, firmly occupying the top position in the league and widening the gap with Barcelona; in the King’s Cup, Real Madrid has reached the semi-finals, making it just a matter of time before entering the final, and in the Champions League group stage, Real Madrid was the first to qualify, making the outlook highly favorable.

Once this news spread, astute observers knew what was happening.

During this period, Frenchman Benzema was feeling rather depressed.

Benzema felt like he had become a sacrificial pawn in the crossfire between Mourinho and Valdano.

During the match against Atletico Madrid, he didn’t get a minute on the field, not even a directive to warm up on the sidelines.

Mourinho made three substitutions, yet Benzema still did not get the chance.

The 35 million Euro man has transitioned from Ronaldo’s successor to a benchwarmer scarecrow.

If Van Nistelrooy arrives, then Benzema can completely forget about playing.

After the match against Atletico Madrid, although Valdano still insisted Benzema was useful, proclaiming: ”He is a useful person for the team.”

But the key issue was not in this.

Rather, it lay in the fact that Valdano still wasn’t willing to give an accurate answer to Mourinho’s desire for Van Nistelrooy.

He could only say repetitively: ”We are trying, but achieving this is no easy task.”

For Mourinho, this was just another pretext.

Effort, more effort, is it just talk or is it being implemented practically?

In this effort, perhaps Mourinho put in more energy than Valdano.

This might also be a crucial reason why Mourinho was not keen on Benzema during this match, just before the winter transfer window is about to close.

Van Nistelrooy’s potential joining of Real Madrid is still up in the air.

The Dutch desire to return to Real Madrid is unquestionable.

Even in Thursday’s report from Marca, it was revealed that not long ago Mourinho made a phone call to Van Nistelrooy, persuading the Dutchman to accept the invitation to return to Real Madrid. Van Nistelrooy expressed gratitude for Mourinho’s personal invitation and verbally promised to make every effort to return to Bernabeu.

Back in the Premier League days, Van Nistelrooy had immense admiration for Mourinho, longing to be under Mourinho’s employ.

Marca explains that a major motivation to push Van Nistelrooy’s return to Real Madrid is Mourinho.

Mourinho, too, openly expressed his strong desire for Van Nistelrooy’s joining in front of the media. He stated: ”If Van Nistelrooy joins, Real Madrid would have significantly enhanced their strength; he wholeheartedly welcomes Van Nistelrooy back to Bernabeu.”

Compared to the proactive coach Mourinho and eager player Van Nistelrooy, Valdano seemed somewhat ”unwilling and unseeking” regarding this matter.

In the pre-match press conference before the match against Mallorca, Mourinho once again brought up the issue of introducing a center forward.

Every time communicating with Pablo Miranés, Mourinho felt the need to explain to Pablo Miranés that a plan that satisfies him is necessary; he doesn’t even require a contract nor a 40 million Euro player, just a center forward. ”This is what you need to provide me,” Mourinho had shouted to Pablo Miranés more than once.

He is also the contact between Mourinho and Valdano.

In fact, what Mourinho stated was indeed factual. In his first season with Inter, Mourinho completed three signings: Quaresma (Porto), Muntari (Portsmouth), and Mancini (Rome), spending nearly 60 million Euros from Inter.

In Inter’s second season, Inter spent approximately 95 million Euros on signings (Milito, Sneijder, Eto’o, Lucio, Motta, Mariga, and Viviano).

While Inter roughly transferred out players totaling 120 million Euros (Ibrahimovic and Aquafresca among the expensive ones). The difference wasn’t much: in two seasons, Inter invested 45 million Euros.

Mourinho repetitively emphasized, akin to delivering a philosophy lecture. ”Next year I continue coaching must satisfy four conditions,” Mourinho continued, ”My coaching must satisfy the fans, the players, the coach, and obviously, the club leadership should also be satisfied. It’s very normal. And what’s unusual is not a contract forcing someone to stay at a place.”

”When a coach leaves a club like Inter,” Mourinho went on, ”a club he dearly loves, has the privilege of... During my first season at Real Madrid, I’m not just working, I’m also analyzing. We’ll review at the end of the season, analyze the form of coaching. My wish is to create conditions to satisfy all parties so that I can stay here.”