Mourinho: I'll bring out the best in Real players
Jose Mourinho has announced his intention to stamp his mark on Real Madrid.
The Portuguese will be unveiled as Madrid’s new coach on Monday after the Spanish club agreed a compensation deal with Inter Milan.
The clubs’ respective presidents, Florentino Perez and Massimo Moratti, met in Milan yesterday afternoon to thrash out a financial deal to facilitate the early release of Mourinho from his contract at the San Siro, which ran until 2012.
Mourinho will replace Manuel Pellegrini in the Madrid hotseat after the Chilean was sacked on Wednesday night.
He told AS: “I think Madrid have signed me because they know that they can demand aims in the short term but that I am also capable of leaving a base for the future.
“It’s clear that I work for myself but also for clubs. At Chelsea you can see scouts and physical trainers that I left there. The same goes for Inter.
“I want to leave a mark at this club, not only with titles but with other things. I promise from my first day that I will bring out the best in the players, that I will take care of them.”
Madrid immediately outlined their intention to replace Pellegrini with Mourinho once they and the former Chelsea boss had negotiated his release.
That proved trickier than had been expected, with Champions League winners Inter seemingly determined to claim the full €16m they were entitled to according to a release clause in Mourinho’s contract.
However, Inter, who were guided to the treble by Mourinho during 2009/10, and Madrid confirmed last night that a deal – reportedly worth in the region of €8m – had been done.
A statement from Inter read: “Massimo Moratti and Florentino Perez met this afternoon.
“In light of the excellent and constructive relations of friendship that exist between the two clubs, an agreement was reached on the contractual clause that binds Jose Mourinho to FC Internazionale.
“The time and the manner by which the agreement will be honoured has been defined.
“Massimo Moratti thanks Florentino Perez for his willingness to join him in Milan and for his courtesy, which confirms, once again, the strong link between the two prestigious club.”
Madrid added: “Jose Mourinho will be presented as Real Madrid’s new coach on Monday 31 May at 1300 CET in the press room of the Santiago Bernabeu stadium.”
