Current Benfica coach says he has had “no contact whatsoever” with figures at the club
Jose Mourinho has denied reports linking him with a return to Real Madrid, insisting he has had no contact with club president Florentino Perez or other senior figures at the Bernabeu.
Speculation over Mourinho’s future has intensified amid Real Madrid’s difficult end to the season, with reports in Spain claiming the club are now in talks with the Portuguese’s representatives about a possible return this summer.
Madrid will finish a second straight campaign without a major trophy, losing the LaLiga title to rivals Barcelona after losing 2-0 in Sunday’s clásico.
Mourinho said no discussions had taken place between him and Madrid, but he said nothing of his representatives.
“I honestly ran away, I had no contact whatsoever, neither with the President, nor with any of the important people in the structure,” Mourinho said. “And by my own decision, a decision similar to others I’ve made throughout my career, especially now, in the final stages of the season, I don’t speak to anyone.
“I haven’t had any contact with Real Madrid, I haven’t, and until the last league game against Estoril, I won’t either.
“After that, there’s a one-week window where I’ll have the freedom to speak to whomever I feel I should speak to, but all the stories that have come out, demands, meetings, it’s all speculation.”
Mourinho previously managed Madrid between 2010 and 2013, winning La Liga in the 2011-12 season with a record 100 points as well as the Copa del Rey the previous year. Madrid will hope he can arrest their slide into trophy-drought territory.
But immediately, supporters will be looking at the personality of the Portuguese to control the egos in the Madrid dressing room, particularly after the bust-up between Federico Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni on the training ground this week, which ended with the former hospitalised and both players later fined a combined €1m by the club.
