Real Madrid News
Benfica unlikely to negotiate Mourinho’s exit to Real Madrid below €15 million release clause
Jose Mourinho’s return to Real Madrid appears to be only a matter of time, but the Spanish giants still have an important hurdle to overcome before the move can be fully completed.
According to a report from The Athletic, Benfica have no intention of negotiating a reduced compensation package as Mourinho edges closer to taking charge at the Santiago Bernabeu for a second spell.
While an official announcement is expected to arrive after Real Madrid’s presidential election process concludes, work is already well underway.
In fact, the Portuguese coach has reportedly reached an agreement with Real Madrid, and preparations for his arrival have already begun.
However, the financial aspect of his departure from Benfica remains unresolved.
What’s the story?
Notably, Mourinho’s contract with Benfica included a release clause worth approximately €6 million.
However, that clause was only active for ten working days following Benfica’s final match of the season and officially expired on May 29.
So, the reason why Real Madrid did not activate that clause was because of Florentino Perez’s decision to call presidential elections.
Although Perez has continued carrying out his duties as club president during the campaign period, the circumstances surrounding the election created uncertainty regarding the timing of several important decisions.
It must be noted that Real Madrid reached a full agreement with Mourinho during the week following Benfica’s final game on May 16.
The Portuguese manager is understood to have signed a three-year contract with the club during that period.
At that stage, however, it was not completely certain that a presidential election would take place, which complicated the handling of the release clause situation.
So what now?
With the clause now expired, Real Madrid can no longer rely on the original exit mechanism.
Instead, any compensation package must be negotiated directly with Benfica and that is where the challenge begins.
In that context, Benfica are not expected to lower their demands and currently have little incentive to negotiate a reduced fee from the stipulated €15 million.
Simply put, Benfica still hold an important card in the negotiations and are showing no signs of making Mourinho’s departure any easier for the Spanish giants.
Real Madrid News
Rayo Vallecano manager names the one Real Madrid figure he would remove from the team
Rayo Vallecano face a daunting trip to the Santiago Bernabeu to take on a wounded Real Madrid this weekend.
Life after Inigo Perez has not been kind to the Vallecas-based club, who have already had to travel to Camp Nou and now face a trip to the home of their city giants.
Speaking ahead of the game (h/t Madrid Xtra), Rayo Vallecano manager Benat San Jose was asked which Real Madrid player he would like to remove from the team before this weekend’s game.
Surprisingly, his choice was not Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior or Thibaut Courtois.
“Mourinho”
Asked which Madrid player he would take out of the upcoming contest, Benat jokingly chose the man sitting on the opposition bench.
“Which Real Madrid player I’d remove from the match against them? Mourinho,” Benat said with a laugh.
The answer might have been delivered jokingly, but the Rayo coach immediately made clear just how highly he rates the Portuguese manager.
“He’s one of the best managers in history,” he added.
It is significant praise ahead of Saturday’s meeting at the Bernabeu.
Madrid’s squad contains enough individual quality to give any opposition coach several obvious answers, but Benat instead highlighted the influence Mourinho can have over the entire team.
That has become particularly relevant since the Portuguese coach returned to Madrid. His early work has focused on making a talented group function with greater collective discipline.
Courtois and Madrid’s attack also praised
Benat did not stop with the manager.
“They also have one of the best GKs in history and one of the best attackers in history,” he said.
Benat will definitely have seen how Thibaut Courtois played against Inter Milan in midweek and will hope that version does not turn up again this weekend.
Even when teams manage to create opportunities against Madrid, they still have to beat one of the defining goalkeepers of his generation.
At the opposite end, Madrid possess attacking quality capable of turning a match on its head.
The likes of Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham can all decide matches single-handedly.
Madrid have a point to prove
Madrid are coming off a disappointing loss to Real Betis in La Liga last weekend and will come into this game with a point to prove.
They will want to ensure that the loss to the Andalusian club was a one-off and that they return to winning ways against Rayo.
Their title rivals, Barça, have been flying high in the league, scoring goals and picking opponents apart for fun.
Madrid need to ensure that they do not hand too much early incentive to Barça, and it remains to be seen how Los Blancos fare against Rayo Vallecano.
