Jorge Valdano recalls Benfica mainstay's spell at Real Madrid: We had... | OneFootball

José Mourinho is highly sought after by Florentino Pérez. At a time when Real Madrid is going through yet another results crisis, the Spanish press, which had already addressed the Special One’s future, brought back an old interview with Jorge Valdano, former sporting director of Los Blancos, in which he spoke about the Benfica coach’s spell on the Real Madrid bench.

"Florentino Pérez sent more messages to Mourinho than to me," Jorge Valdano, a former official in the Los Blancos setup, reportedly said in an interview he gave in September 2025. The former footballer, now 70 years old, worked alongside both heavyweight figures in football during that period.

"We had opposite sensibilities, which is why Florentino Pérez had to let one of us go," said the former 1986 World Cup winner, who reportedly left Real Madrid in 2011 after clashing with José Mourinho, having refused to take on a new role outside Los Blancos’ sporting structure.

"You’ve already done the hardest part, José. Stay, the best is yet to come," El Periódico wrote at the time, recalling the alleged words Florentino Pérez reportedly used to try to convince the Special One to remain at the Santiago Bernabéu. It should be remembered that the Portuguese coach left Real Madrid in the summer of 2013.

"The only coach who brought the Real Madrid dressing room into line was Mourinho," Jorge Valdano admitted, pointing out that the Benfica coach’s profile was the only one capable of controlling a squad full of egos and delusions of grandeur, as the Argentine himself had mentioned on several occasions.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.