Perez confirms Mourinho's arrival at Bernabeu after dismissing Pellegrini
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Your support makes all the difference.Jose Mourinho will be the Real Madrid coach next season replacing the sacked Manuel Pellegrini, the club's president Florentino Perez confirmed last night.
The former Chelsea manager becomes Real's ninth manager in the last seven years – no wonder Perez was a little confused when he referred to the man he had just sacked, Pellegrini, as "one of the best if not the best coaches in the world". He quickly corrected himself, repeating that Mourinho was "one of, if not the best coaches in world football".
Mourinho had earlier left his now former workplace for the last time saying: "I'm going on holiday and when I come back I will coach in Spain." Asked if there was any possibility that Mourinho would not come because of settlement problems with his old club, Perez said: "There is will on both sides to get the thing sorted. It is not a case of if he comes, but when."
Pellegrini leaves after clocking up more points in one season than any previous Madrid coach. It had not been enough to beat Barcelona and, after failing in Europe and in the Spanish Cup, neither was it enough to keep him in a job.
"We have reflected over the season in the last few weeks and decided to bring the era of Pellegrini to an end," Perez said. "We have decided to contract Jose Mourinho as the new coach of Real Madrid once he has reached an agreement with his club Inter Milan."
Mourinho will have to win over the Madrid purists, who still see him as a negative manager. Something that was enforced by the manner in which he won the Champions League. Inter had only 33 per cent of possession in the final against Bayern Munich.
But Perez said: "Mourinho's style will fit perfectly with ours because first and foremost he is a winner." He also defended the club's horrendous record on hiring and firing coaches, saying: "The first five European Cups we won were all with different coaches. Stability is not having the same coach but always winning and always being at the top in Europe."
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