Jose Mourinho and Real Madrid; Who's the Player and who's the game?

Recent reports from AS and Marca have confirmed that Jose Mourinho’s deal with Real Madrid contains an annual mutual termination clause. This means that both coach and club can terminate the contract after every season for the four years in his contract without having any financial restraints. It has not come as a surprise as one would not have expected the special one to sign a contract that would pin him down like the one he had at Inter Milan. But this, however, has raised questions as to how committed he really is to Los Blancos. The special one has openly expressed his admiration for English football and his desire to someday coach an English club again. If reports are to be believed, he would like to succeed Alex Ferguson as Manchester United manager. So is Real Madrid only an overnight stop for the special one to embark on the more alluring journey ahead? Besides, Jose Mourinho has always been known for his intelligence and intellectual alertness.

This theory could, however, be contravened by the man’s self esteem and willingness to be the best. When his appointment as Real Madrid manger was not more than imminent, he was quoted as saying ‘Real Madrid is a unique club and I believe that not to coach Real leaves a void in a coach’s career’. Even when the Real Madrid board delayed his appointment in an attempt to address the issue properly, he went ahead to place himself above the then Real Madrid coach, Manuel Luis Pellegrini, in the name of having more trophies than the Chilean. The truth is that Jose Mourinho has put himself in a position that in the event of any form of failure might ruin his reputation as the special one.

Then again, Manchester United happens to be in major financial crisis and knowing Mourinho, he would not want to work there until the club has sorted itself out financially. So all Real Madrid fans should relax because the special one is not about to leave until he has found victory with the whites and satisfied his ego unless, of course, the almighty Florentino Perez strikes again.