Bale would be a worthwhile investment, claims Madrid president

Florentino Perez added more fuel to the speculation linking the PFA Player of the Year with a move to the Spanish giants saying the Liga runners-up “like” the Welshman’s profile

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez says any offer for Gareth Bale would be a good investment because it would produce an instant return.

Various reports suggest the Liga runners-up are readying a mega-money offer to lure the Welshman out of White Hart Lane in a deal which could potentially match their capture of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Spurs are hopeful of hanging on to winger, though, and are said to be ready to offer the 23-year-old a new and improved contract to convince him to stay put.

“He’s one of the big players out there in Europe and Real Madrid always likes big players,” Perez told Punto Pelota.“I met Tottenham chairman Levy last year and he has an obligation to defend their interests.

“Regarding the figures spoken about Bale, players are neither cheap nor expensive, but an investment. The most expensive players are those that can be classified as an investment because, if they are very good, they produce a return.”

The Blancos have also been linked to Malaga midfielder Isco, who is believed to be following ex-coach Manuel Pellegrini to Manchester City. Perez confirmed there have been no discussions over the Spanish attacker.

“Isco’s father was in the club’s offices recently, accompanying a representative of Malaga,” continued Perez. “I had to do some business related to La Liga. We have not spoken to him or Malaga.”

Madrid will not try to sign Thiago behind Barcelona's back, insists Perez

The Santiago Bernabeu side have no intention to harm their relationship with the Liga champions, while they have yet to make a formal bid for Malaga star Isco

Florentino Perez has insisted that Real Madrid will not attempt to lure Thiago away from Barcelona by triggering his exit clause, but will get in touch with the Catalans first if they were ever to make a move for the midfielder.

Both Madrid and Manchester United are believed to be closely monitoring the 22-year-old’s situation at the Camp Nou side amid reports that he’s unhappy with his lack of regular first-team action at Barca.

However, Perez has made it clear that Madrid have no intention to put their good relationship with Barca at risk by trying to sign Thiago behind the Catalans’ back.

“Thiago is a very good player. I do not know whether Barcelona are willing to sell. I can assure that Madrid will not trigger his buy-out clause, though,” the Madrid president told Punto Pelota.

“We will not do anything hostile toward Barcelona. If we were ever to make a move for Thiago, or any other Barcelona player, we will speak to Barca first.”

Perez then went on to discuss Madrid’s interest in players such as Napoli star Edinson Cavani and Malaga youngster Isco.

“Cavani and Isco are both very good players. It’s only normal that a club like Manchester City like Isco. However, we have not talked to him about a potential transfer.”

The 26-year-old Cavani has a contract with Napoli until June 2017, while Isco, 21, is under contract with Malaga until 2016.

A-Z of Mourinho mayhem

As the new Chelsea manager leaves behind a divided dressing room and disgruntled fans at Real Madrid, Goal celebrates the trademark confrontations that have defined his career

By Ben Hayward | Spanish Football Writer

It was far from a happy ending. Jose Mourinho left Real Madrid this weekend with a deeply divided dressing room and many Madridistas also against him at the end of his turbulent three-year tenure, a far cry from his reigns at Porto and Inter when he departed in a blaze of glory after winning the Champions League – with the supporters longing him to stay and the players in tears.

At Madrid, several members of the senior squad did not even bother to say goodbye to the man who has led them for the last three years. Now, the Portuguese heads to London for a second spell at Chelsea where he will need to mend his relationship with Blues owner Roman Abramovich, which ended on a sour note with the coach’s controversial exit in 2007.

With all of that in mind, Goal looks back at some of the major confrontations throughout Mourinho’s top-level coaching career, an A to Z of his greatest controversies over the last decade.

A is for ambulances: When Petr Cech suffered a severe head injury after clattering into another player at Reading, Mourinho pointed the finger at the ambulance service and claimed that their slow reaction could have proved fatal for his goalkeeper. “Thirty minutes in the dressing room, waiting for an ambulance… If my goalkeeper dies in that dressing room, it is something English football has to think about,” the Portuguese raged. The reality, however, was rather different: the ambulance arrived after seven minutes and within 19, Cech was already in hospital.

B is for Benitez: Mourinho and Rafa Benitez have never seen eye to eye and their rivalry was not restricted only to the pitch during the Portuguese’s time at Chelsea and the Spaniard’s spell at Liverpool, when the Reds beat the Blues in two Champions League semi-finals. Later, Benitez replaced Mourinho at Inter and the Portuguese poured scorn on his rival’s triumph in the Club World Cup as he took the credit for the trophy. “I thought he was going to thank me for the title I gave him,” Mourinho said. “Inter fans would tell you how they really feel about it.”

C is for the Camp Nou car park: Furious at several decisions by referee Jose Antonio Teixeira Vitienes in Madrid’s Copa del Rey quarter-final second leg clash at Camp Nou in January 2012, Mourinho waited for the official in the car park following his side’s elimination and directed abuse at the Cantabrian. “Now you will go and have a cigar and you will laugh, artist!” he is reported to have told the official. The Portuguese had earlier appealed for three penalties, believed Lionel Messi should have been dismissed for a second bookable offence and was unhappy at Sergio Ramos’ red card. In the press room he said: “I won’t speak about the referee, but what I have heard in the dressing room is that it is impossible to win here.”

D is for Dani Alves: When Barca’s Dani Alves claimed Mourinho had not invented football, the Portuguese sarcastically compared the defender to Albert Einstein and reminded the Brazilian that “it was a Portuguese” who discovered his country. Mourinho also accused Alves of simulating to get Pepe sent off in the Champions League semi-final against Barca in 2011 and can clearly be seen shouting obscenities to the Brazilian in another Clasico clash.

E is for EPL:

Mourinho met Arsenal’s Ashley Cole without permission to discuss a transfer to Chelsea and, following an inquiry, the English Premier League fined the Portuguese £200,000 for tapping up the player. The punishment was later reduced to £75,000.

F is for Frisk: Popular referee Anders Frisk was forced to retire from the game after he was wrongly accused by Mourinho of inviting then Barcelona boss Frank Rijkaard to his room at half-time in a Champions League last-16 clash at Camp Nou. Rijkaard remonstrated with the official at the break but the Dutchman was not allowed to follow the official into his room. Mourinho, however, claimed otherwise and blamed the invented incident for the second-half dismissal of Didier Drogba as Chelsea lost 2-1. The Swede later received death threats from Blues supporters and was forced out of the game altogether. Uefa referees’ chief Volker Roth later labelled Mourinho ‘the enemy of football’ for the Frisk fiasco.

G is for Guardiola: Mourinho was assistant coach at Barcelona when Pep Guardiola was club captain and the pair were close, but there was no love lost between them as they went head to head for two seasons in Spain. The Portuguese mocked the Catalan following the Copa del Rey final in 2011 after Guardiola had lamented a close offside call which saw a Pedro strike ruled out. “There is now a new group of which only he is a member, which criticises referees’ correct decisions.” Guardiola responded with a rant of his own before Barca and Madrid met in the Champions League and after the Catalans came out on top, Mourinho attacked his former friend once again. “He knows how he has won the Champions League twice,” he said, bemoaning what he called ‘The Scandal of Stamford Bridge’ – when Pep’s 2009 side survived to beat the Blues as several decisions went in their favour.

H is for handcuffs: Mourinho received a three-game touchline ban and a €4,000 fine following a “handcuffs” gesture during Inter’s game against Genoa in February, 2010. The Portuguese protested as Walter Samuel and Ivan Cordoba were sent off, and made the gesture (in front of the television cameras, for maximum effect) as Samuel Eto’o was booked, alluding to victimisation from the officials.

I is for Iker: Not long into his reign as Real Madrid coach, Mourinho claimed captain Iker Casillas was the best goalkeeper in the world. But relations with the Spain shot-stopper proved prickly from the outset and the Portuguese benched his skipper in December of last year. Later, when Iker was injured, he signed Diego Lopez and kept the new man in the side for the remainder of the campaign, not even calling Casillas up for the last match of the season.

J is for Jesualdo Ferreira: Mourinho met veteran coach Jesualdo Ferreira in the 1980s when he was a student at the Lisbon Superior Institute for Physical Education and Ferreira was a teacher. Mou later refused to accept Ferreira as his assistant in his first coaching role at Benfica and mocked the older man in a column with Portuguese paper Record as he wrote: “This could be the story of a donkey who worked for 30 years but never became a horse.” Ferreira, however, went on to win three titles in a row with Porto.

K is for Klopp: Ahead of Madrid’s Champions League semi-final tie against Borussia Dortmund in April, Mourinho hit out at BVB boss Jurgen Klopp. “Klopp talks to much,” he said. “Since the draw, he has spoken every day.”

L is for laundry baskets: Mourinho clambered into a laundry basket in a Champions League quarter-final tie against Bayern Munich in order to beat a ban and deliver his pre-match and half-time team talks. The coach was wheeled in and out of the dressing room without Uefa’s knowledge despite being barred from contact with his players in both legs. Chelsea later denied the claims.

M is for Muntari: Mourinho caused controversy in the Islamic world by questioning Sulley Muntari’s decision to fast during Ramadan. After substituting the Ghanaian during Inter’s draw with Bari in 2009, the Portuguese said: “Muntari had some problems related to Ramadan, perhaps with this heat it’s not good for him to be doing this [fasting]. Ramadan has not arrived at the ideal moment for a player to play a football match.” The comments drew strong criticism from prominent Islamic figures in Italy.

N is for nationality: Mourinho has blamed what he considers to be poor treatment in Madrid on a very Iberian issue. “It is difficult to be a Portuguese in Spain,” he claimed earlier this year. The 50-year-old also told the media last year that he would sign no more Portuguese players for Madrid after seeing Fabio Coentrao suffer in the Spanish capital. “The Portuguese have a tough life at Real Madrid,” he explained. “I wouldn’t bring any more Portuguese players here – they have to have a special mentality to resist a situation which is not easy for them.”

O is for O’Neill: Mourinho attacked former Celtic coach Martin O’Neill before the Scottish side met Barcelona in the Uefa Cup in 2004. Recalling the 2003 Uefa Cup final between his Porto side and O’Neill’s Celtic, Mourinho said: “We kept the ball and they just ran all over the pitch trying to get to us with their horrible and aggressive style.”
 
P is for Pepe: When Pepe defended benched club captain Casillas after a Liga clash against Valladolid in April, Mourinho turned on his once trusted defender. “Pepe has a problem – and his name is Raphael Varane,” the coach claimed, alluding to the 20-year-old defender who displaced the Portugal centre-back in the team. Pepe hasn’t played since.

Q is for Queiroz: “Portugal have no chance of winning the World Cup, even if Cristiano Ronaldo plays at 1,000 per cent,” Mourinho said of the side coached by Carlos Queiroz in 2010. “What Mourinho says makes us think deeply,” responded Queiroz, who was said to be furious by his compatriot’s remarks. But his team was unable to respond on the pitch and Cristiano Ronaldo was nowhere near 100 per cent in a sterile side, let alone 1,000%.

R is for Ronaldo: During his time at Chelsea, Mourinho was embroiled in a war of words with Ronaldo after claiming Manchester United often found favour with referees. Ronaldo responded by calling Mourinho a sore loser, but the coach hit back by saying: “He doesn’t show maturity and respect. Maybe a difficult childhood, no education, maybe [it is] the consequence of that.”

S is for Stick: Mourinho’s most infamous bust-up in Italy was with former Catania sporting director Pietro Lo Monaco. Angered by Jose’s conduct following Inter’s controversial 2-1 win over the Sicilians, Lo Monaco roared that “Mourinho deserves to be smacked in the teeth with a stick.” The Special One responded with a classic line of his own: “As for Lo Monaco, I do not know who he is. I have heard of Bayern Monaco [the Italian name for Bayern Munich] and the Monaco GP, the Tibetan Monaco [Monk], and the principality of Monaco. I’ve never heard of any others.”

T is for Tito: Perhaps his lowest blow: Mourinho poked Barca coach (then assistant) Tito Vilanova in the eye following a melee at the end of Madrid’s Spanish Supercopa defeat to the Catalans in August of 2011 and later stunned the media as he said: “Who is Pito Vilanova? I don’t know who Pito Vilanova is…”

U is for Uefa and Unicef: During his most memorable press-room rant in Spain, Mourinho accused Barcelona of receiving favours from Uefa and also questioned the Catalan club’s working relationship with charity Unicef as he reeled off a long list of conspiracy theories.

V is for Valdano: Mourinho and Madrid’s then director general Jorge Valdano were all smiles as the Portuguese was unveiled in the summer of 2010, but a power struggle ensued and the coach publicly hit out at the Argentine for failing to defend his side’s interests. “[He] should be defending the team,” Mourinho said in December of 2010. “The club has a structure but it’s not working – I want a meeting with the president.” And, in the summer, Valdano was gone.

W is for Wenger: After Arsene Wenger made comments on Chelsea’s 1-1 draw with Everton and the Blues’ League Cup defeat against Charlton, Mourinho famously labelled the Frenchman a ‘voyeur’. “I think he is one of these people who is a voyeur,” said the Portuguese coach. “He likes to watch other people. There are some guys who, when they are at home, have a big telescope to see what happens in other families. He speaks, speaks, speaks about Chelsea. He should be worried about them [Arsenal]. He’s worried about us, he’s always talking about us. It’s Chelsea, Chelsea, Chelsea, Chelsea.” Wenger had merely claimed the Blues’ dip in form had given the club’s rivals “a little bit of hope” in the title race.

X is for Xavi: The Barcelona midfielder told Portuguese paper Record last year: “Guardiola has revolutionised football, there is no comparison – his worth is considerably higher [than Mourinho’s].” The Madrid boss replied by simply saying: “Xavi should concentrate on playing football.”

Y is for Yorkshire terrier: Mourinho was arrested and cautioned after allegedly refusing to allow police to quarantine his pet dog – a Yorkshire terrier – in 2007.  The Portuguese received a call from his wife telling him police were at their home in London, rushed home in a taxi from an award ceremony and grabbed the animal from a health official.

Z is for Zeman: When former Roma and Lazio coach Zdenek Zeman claimed that Mourinho was a ‘mediocre’ tactician, the Portuguese hit back with some strong words. “I am a mediocre coach? Okay! I respect every opinion,” Mourinho stated. “Zeman? I do not know him. Where does he play? He is a coach? Sorry, I did not know that. Now that I am on holiday I will look him up on Google to find out who he is and what he has won.”

Follow Ben Hayward on 

Why Mourinho is still the Special One

With the Portuguese’s reign at Real Madrid far from the disaster it has been painted as, he returns to Chelsea an even better coach than when he arrived so spectacularly in 2004

ANALYSIS
By Ewan Roberts

There is a perception that Jose Mourinho is returning to Chelsea as damaged goods following a disappointing, fractious and trophyless final season with Real Madrid. Where once he bathed in the media spotlight and adulation, more recently, at the Santiago Bernabeu, he was agitated and under-fire, battling external criticism and internal disharmony.

The irrepressible, debonair showman has gone, say some, and in his place is a chastened shadow of the self-proclaimed ‘Special One’ – a vacant chair in press conferences filled instead by assistant manager Aitor Karanka – a greyer, older, less absorbing and illuminating character. A failure, even.

STILL THE SPECIAL ONE?

MOURINHO’S MADRID RECORD
GAMES MANAGED
WINS
LOSSES
GOALS SCORED
GOALS CONCEDED
GOAL DIFFERENCE
WIN %
GOALS PER GAME
LIGA POINTS PER GAME
TROPHIES
178
128
22
475
168
+307
71.9%
2.67
2.43
3

Yet, while the 2012-13 season was one to forget for Mourinho (he labelled it “the worst season of my career,” following los Blancos‘ 2-1 loss in the Copa del Rey final against city rivals Atletico Madrid), his tenure at Madrid was a success. Perhaps not the unqualified, all-conquering glory-train the high standards he has set demand, but a success nonetheless.

He leaves the Spanish capital having posted the highest win rate (71.9 per cent) of any manager to have taken charge of more than 50 games for the club – in fact, only at Porto did Mourinho boast a higher win percentage (73%) in his entire career. In La Liga alone, the Portuguese’s win rate bumps up to 76%.

Despite turmoil within his own camp, infamously dropping captain and icon Iker Casillas, Mourinho still collected 85 points in his final season with Madrid – just four points fewer than Manchester United’s title-winning haul (though Madrid scored 0.5 goals per game more than the Red Devils and beat them in the Champions League).

On top of that, he went toe-to-toe with one of the most frightening and creatively well-endowed club sides in football history, Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona. Not only did Mourinho end their domestic stranglehold (winning the league in 2011-12 and ending Madrid’s 18-year wait for the Copa), but he also outscored the Catalan giants over the course of his three seasons.

Far from leaving the Bernabeu empty-handed and with his tail between his legs, he departs having written himself into the history books with a host of records that even Barca and talisman Lionel Messi (who scored at a rate of 1.48 goals per game last season) could not usurp.

Mourinho’s Madrid hold the record for the most goals scored in a 38-game season (121) and the best goal difference in a season (+89) – both came in the title-winning 2011-12 season – as well as setting (and now sharing alongside Barca) the record for most wins (32) and most points (100 – which represented an astonishing 87.72% of all points that were available) in a single season.

Detractors will point to La Liga’s duopoly, the stranglehold the top two have over the rest of the league; but if a division’s competitiveness is judged by how many sides ended the season with a positive goal difference, then, in the top five leagues in Europe, only Ligue 1 saw more sides finish with a positive record (nine) than the Spanish league (eight).

The only prize that eluded Mourinho during his stay, the one he was predominantly recruited to win, was the Champions League.

Yet, under his stewardship, Madrid reached the last four in each of his three seasons at the club. They ended up one goal shy against Borussia Dortmund last season, went out on penalties against Bayern Munich in 2011-12, and were beaten by a burst of Messi magic against eventual winners Barca the year before that. Fine margins indeed.

A year ago Mourinho was at the peak of his powers having dismantled the Camp Nou steamroller in spectacular, free-flowing fashion and had been duly rewarded with an extended contract. 12 months later and there’s suddenly a suggestion that he is no longer the manager he once was. As if.

With Mourinho at the helm, Chelsea look the most fearsome proposition in the Premier League, very much the team to beat next season. The 50-year-old, in the absence of Sir Alex Fergsuon, is far and away the manager with the greatest pedigree. Against his likely title challengers, Arsene Wenger, Manuel Pellegrini and David Moyes, Mourinho has only lost once in 23 encounters, boasting a goal difference of +30.

In the maiden year of his first stint at the club, Chelsea ran away with the league, racking up a 12-point gap to Wenger’s second-placed, and previously invincible, Arsenal. From the most wins and points in a Premier League season (29 and 95 respectively) to the fewest goals conceded and most clean sheets (15 and 24), no side has yet managed to better, or even equal, many of the west London club’s records under Mourinho.

And now, frighteningly, Chelsea have appointed a better Mourinho this time around than the one that burst onto the scene in 2004. Nine years ago he had tasted success only with Porto, now he has a holy trinity (or “grand slam”, as he calls it) of title wins from England, Spain and Italy. The inherent pragmatism has been diluted, replaced by more attacking intent and creativity.

The manager himself has matured – he is less volatile, less egotistical, and even the self-aggrandising monologues have been dialled down (distancing himself from the Super Cup reunion with new Bayern boss Guardiola that has garnered such a buzz).

There’s always been something incredibly short term about Mourinho, but, now, it feels like he has returned home to roost. Any perceived dimming of his aura is merely wishful thinking, and he remains a brilliant, intelligent, boundary-pushing manager. And if, as he professes, he has returned to Stamford Bridge in his “best moment”, then Chelsea will be a force to be reckoned with next season.

Follow Ewan Roberts on 

Cristiano Ronaldo will retire at Real Madrid, says Perez

The club president believes that the attacker’s future lies as the Spanish giants and has insisted they have not received any offers for Gonzalo Higuain

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez is hopeful that Cristiano Ronaldo will remain at the Santiago Bernabeu until the end of his career.

The Portugal international, 28, stated in the autumn of 2012 that he was unhappy with life at los Blancos and has since been linked with a return to Manchester United as well as a move to Paris Saint-Germain.

Nevertheless, Perez believes that the prolific attacker’s future lies at Madrid.

“I think that Cristiano will end his professional career at Real Madrid. And that’s not all, I can tell all Madridistas that we will soon win la Decima with Cristiano,” Perez said at a press conference.

“I don’t know whether the Madridistas are very concerned about the contract renewal of Cristiano. He still has a contract for two more years.”

The Madrid president then went on to discuss the future of Gonzalo Higuain, who recently said that he wants to leave the club and is being heavily linked with a move to Juventus.

“Nobody has told me yet that Higuain is leaving. The club have never put him up for sale. We have always told him that we do not want to sell.

“He said that he wants to leave, but there’s no concrete offer. If he wants out, they will have to pay his exit clause, but there’s no offer for now.

“I spoke to Juventus recently and Higuain was never discussed, so I’m a little surprised. You cannot open talks with another club’s player without permission. Juventus are a befriended club, though, so I guess everything will soon be clear.”

Higuain, 25, has a contract with Madrid until June 2016