I Am Scouted by Real Madrid

Chapter 718: Chapter 15: Dominance (Part 3)

For the first time, the coach’s wishes prevailed.

After Florentino and Valdano refused to bring in Hugo Almeida, the rift between the management and Mourinho was made public for the first time.

The former Werder Bremen forward was Mourinho’s first winter signing recommendation to the club, but after Real Madrid’s rejection, Almeida could only join Besiktas in Turkey.

This matter involved the interests of Mourinho’s agent Mendes—Real Madrid already had a ”Mendes gang”: Cristiano Ronaldo, Mourinho, Pepe, Cavaleiro, and Di Maria were all represented by Mendes.

It’s a real power presence, and if it’s not shown in the club, it will manifest in the locker room.

Mourinho was displeased with the management’s disregard for the players he recommended.

What angered the Portuguese even more was that, despite his repeated requests, Valdano and Florentino showed no signs of changing their stance.

Before this issue, Mourinho’s relationship with the management had been pretty good. According to an insider from the club, aside from not bringing in a center forward to replace Raul last summer, the club had previously granted all of Mourinho’s requests.

Florentino believed that he had never been so tolerant and accepting of a coach as he was with Mourinho.

Mourinho’s annual salary reached 10 million euros, a record in Bernabeu’s history.

The requests for bringing in Khedira, Cavaleiro, and Di Maria were also fulfilled, whereas Florentino might not have agreed if it were another coach.

In any case, Florentino believed Mourinho was unique: ”He is the best coach in the world.”

In the last 20 years, the coaching position at Real Madrid has become one of the most unstable in Europe.

Since Ferguson began coaching Manchester United, Liverpool has changed coaches 7 times, Arsenal 4 times, Chelsea 12 times, Barcelona 10 times, and Real Madrid?

people have held the position!

The turmoil in the coaching position indicates persistent cultural and organizational problems between the locker room and management at Real Madrid.

Before Mourinho arrived, Florentino was skeptical of all the Real Madrid coaches’ abilities.

The president of Real Madrid believed Mourinho was unique.

However, he still refused to bring in Hugo Almeida, hoping Mourinho would understand that after last summer’s significant spending in the transfer market, Real Madrid could no longer spend money on a second-tier player.

Indeed, for Real Madrid, Hugo Almeida was undoubtedly a second-tier player.

In fact, after Mourinho came to Real Madrid, a considerable amount of money was spent, but for Mourinho, money alone was not enough; he also wanted power.

He wanted the club to follow his lead and essentially adopt the management model of Premier League clubs where the coach is also the general manager of the team.

Mourinho once complained: ”There are some management flaws in Real Madrid Club; everyone should be moving towards the same goal. I don’t know if I can win this war; in football, I can always win against external enemies, that is, overcoming the difficulties posed by opponents. But within the club, I don’t know if I can win the war. Let’s wait and see.”

So Mourinho targeted Valdano because he knew Valdano was the ”spokesperson” for Florentino, the ”big cat.”

In fact, Mourinho and Valdano had no fundamental conflict because they didn’t manage the same area.

Mourinho led the team training, proposed signings, and clearings for the team.

Valdano acted as Florentino’s deputy, mainly responsible for the introduction of new signings, but did not handle the specific execution of bringing in players. At Real Madrid, the execution was handled by Jose Sanchez, and the final decision was made by Florentino.

Valdano stepped up to confront Mourinho head-on just to serve as a shield for Florentino.

And now, Valdano has conceded.

After Valdano said something like, ”We will give Mourinho more independence, and my job responsibilities remain the same,”

there emerged a voice among the fans.

That was, Real Madrid had a domineering coach and a domineering player.

There is no doubt about the domineering coach; as for the domineering player, it is something that can be discussed.