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Has the countdown begun for Mourinho's return to Real Madrid? Well-known transfer journalist Romano reported on the progress of the negotiations between Real Madrid and Mourinho, indicating that the negotiations between the two parties are proceeding relatively smoothly and have entered the final period. Only Florentino is missing to make the final decision. However, because "Lafayette" has launched a new club presidential election, Mourinho's signing and official announcement may have to wait until after the election.
Not long after Romano's update, Florentino accepted an exclusive interview with Spain's Channel 6. In this interview, Florentino denied having any contact with Mourinho, but praised the Portuguese's achievements at Real Madrid. He said, "He did improve our competitiveness. After that, we won 6 Champions League titles in 10 years."
When asked about Mourinho's possible return, Florentino joked: "You keep talking about Mourinho, it's really annoying. When he came here some time ago, that is, during the Champions League home game against Benfica, I never talked to him. Some people claimed that I talked to Mourinho, and they also said that I talked to the French team coach, Deschamps… I received a lot of messages saying, 'Sign Mourinho! ' But I didn't respond to it at all."
Florentino admitted that in the 2025-2026 season, the situation is not what we expected. However, he denied that appointing Xavi Alonso as head coach last summer was a mistake; he felt that the root cause of all situations is the Club World Cup, because we have not experienced it. After high-quality pre-season training, a total of 28 players in the team were injured one after another. Then we changed the coach, but the players' physical fitness has never been able to recover. Moreover, we have to participate in games every Wednesday and Sunday, making the players extremely vulnerable to injuries and their physical condition has been affected.
Will there be signings for Real Madrid this summer? "There will definitely be signings. We have always signed the best players. I have signed Figo, Zidane, Ronaldo, Beckham… and then when I served as president for the second time During that period, I once again signed Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Benzema… As long as there are good players, I will fight for them. Haaland, I will not evaluate them. That is the scope of the sports director's responsibility, and I will not interfere in it."
In 2024, Florentino finally succeeded in signing Mbappe. However, in the two years since Mbappe joined, Real Madrid has never been able to win an important championship. When defending the French star, Lafayette said that he is the most outstanding player in Real Madrid at the moment. He won the Golden Boot Award, so he There is no shortage of goals, but we do need to improve in some aspects. However, I will not get involved in these things. People from the sports department will be responsible. Since Mbappe joined, I have never spoken to him in private. If I meet him in training, I will say hello to him.
Real Madrid's performance is not very good. There is a saying that it is because Mbappe and Vinicius have a situation where "it is difficult to hide two tigers in one mountain". Vinicius's contract will expire in 2027. There are rumors that the renewal conditions proposed by the Brazilian are to match Mbappe's maximum salary. Lafayette feels that this matter is not urgent, and it is not his responsibility. "Vinicius is one of Real Madrid's outstanding players. He has contributed to Real Madrid's last two Champions League championships. We are not in a hurry. We will finish this season first and then talk about next season. Don't think that I can decide everything. That is the scope of the sports director's job."
On Tuesday this week, Florentino held a press conference. The main content of this conference was to counter the external public opinion environment. In this 40-minute interview with Channel 6, he once again emphasized that Real Madrid and himself had been maliciously smeared by the media. He also mentioned Barcelona's "Negrera case" and the damage caused by La Liga to Real Madrid. Lafayette showed no fear when it came to Barcelona's plans to sue him for his remarks against Barcelona during Tuesday's press conference. He said that if Barcelona wanted to sue him, let them sue him. They have been bribing referees for two decades.
A few years ago, when Barcelona was in financial difficulties, Florentino promised to help. He went to help contact American investors to leverage Laporta's economic leverage, and also roped in Barcelona to join the European Super League process. But now, Barcelona has withdrawn from the European Super League project and has once again established friendly relations with UEFA. The host asked: "Is the relationship with Barcelona completely broken?" "It has completely collapsed. From the bottom of my heart, I don't want to have any relationship with a club that has been bribing referees for twenty years. I hope that justice can be done."
Florentino added that I had never heard of the Negrrera case until three years ago. Real Madrid was the first to stand up and say that they were the victims, and then I realized that Barcelona had been paying the referees for more than 20 years. This is definitely systemic corruption. Real Madrid is the only club to formally lodge a complaint. La Liga is also involved, but has remained silent.
At the press conference held on Tuesday, Florentino also announced the start of a new presidential election. Under normal circumstances, Florentino's term will not end until 2028. At present, there are only two capable candidates, one is Florentino, and the other is Enrique Riquelme, a new energy entrepreneur and Madrid congressman with a "Mexican accent." According to the campaign charter, candidates must submit campaign-related materials within ten days after the election is announced, which covers certification of meeting the requirements for candidacy and team lists. The candidates are required to provide a guarantee equivalent to 15% of Real Madrid's annual budget, which is approximately 187 million euros.
Recently, Riquelme was dealing with important business affairs in Mexico, and it was difficult for him to have enough time and energy to prepare for the Real Madrid election. In an open letter to Florentino, he called for the extension of the election process. He felt that Real Madrid members should be given enough time to think calmly and long-term. Also, when asked by the media whether he would run for Real Madrid chairman, he answered more cautiously, "In the next few days, I will decide whether to accept this challenge and see if I have time to prepare a meaningful plan."
It is said that as early as 2021, Riquelme had the idea of running for the chairman of Real Madrid in the future. In order to achieve this goal, he has been preparing for this and has also recruited many Real Madrid celebrities to support him. Casillas is a member of his team, and many celebrities such as Ramos and Fernando Sanz also participated in his birthday party in January.
Enrique Riquelme biography:
CEO of Cox Energy, a company headquartered in Spain.
· Has personal assets of 460 million euros
· His father was an executive on the board of directors of Real Madrid
· Been a member of Real Madrid for over 20 years
· 37 years old, a pioneer in solar energy in Latin America
· Named to the list of “100 Most Influential Latinos Fighting Climate Change”