Benfica boss denies issuing list of demands ahead of possible Bernabeu return
Jose Mourinho has denied reports he has outlined his demands to return to Real Madrid.
Spanish media this week claimed Mourinho had held a video conference with Madrid president Florentino Perez to discuss the terms around a potential second spell at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Mourinho is thought to be the preferred choice for Perez after a season of enormous instability that has unravelled over the past week, culminating in a training ground fracas between Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouameni. Valverde ended up in hospital with a brain trauma and both men were fined €500,000.
Mourinho dismisses Real Madrid rumours – I don’t know what you’re talking about
Mourinho has another 12 months left on his contract at Benfica but it contains a one-week escape clause at the end of the season.
Asked about Madrid today, the Portuguese said: “I don’t know what you’re talking about regarding my demands on Real Madrid, as such, I can’t even answer your question.”
Mourinho also said it would be Madrid that would instigate a potential return, hinting it was not something he was seeking himself.
“There is one thing I would like to emphasize,” he added. “In the world of football it is not the professionals who are interested in going or not going. I think things, when they start, and I’m not referring to my specific case, I’m referring in general, it’s the clubs that have an interest and it’s the clubs that start procedures to try to have the people they want.
“They [the media] keep talking about Real Madrid. I have had no contact with either the president or with any of the important people in the structure. It is my decision that – a decision like others I’ve had throughout my career, especially now in a final phase of a season – I don’t talk to anyone.
“Therefore, I haven’t had any contact with Real Madrid. I haven’t and before the last game of the championship against EstoriI I won’t have it either. Then, there’s a one-week window where I’ll have the freedom to talk to whoever I think I should talk to. But all these stories that have come out – demands, meetings – are all speculation.”
Benfica play host to Braga tomorrow night with Mourinho’s side second behind already crowned Primeira Liga champions Porto. They still have plenty to play for, though, as they are level on points with third-placed Sporting CP. The top two finishers play in the Champions League next season.
