In control: Mourinho claims he remains the master
of his own destiny and will leave the Bernabeu at the end of the
season if he has to
Jose Mourinho has refused to commit his future to Real
Madrid beyond the end of this season.
With widespread reports of a rift with the club's director
general Jorge Valdano driving speculation that Mourinho could cut
short his stay at the Bernabeu, Mourinho said he would wait until
the summer to make a decision.
'The world is full of rumours, but they're not all true,' he
said after Real Madrid's 1-0 Copa del Rey win over rivals Atletico
Madrid.
'Regarding my future, we'll see what happens at the end of the
season. Contracts aren't the most important thing in football. If
all the parties are happy at the end of a campaign, they remain
together. If they aren't, they don't.'
Before the match at the Bernabeu, Valdano had again moved to end
reports of a disagreement, something Mourinho would not do.
Copa delight: Ronaldo's goal helped secure a
semi-final place for the first time since 2006
'There are no problems between Mourinho and I, Valdano
said. 'He is our coach, the man who must lead us to triumph, and
the team is proving to be very competitive under him. It's all
about being better each season and we are better now than we were
in the previous campaign. We expect to keep this up.'
Mourinho has been keen to bring in an extra striker as cover for
the injured Gonzalo Higuain, but so far the club hierarchy have
resisted entering the January transfer market.
One set of fans who would seem to be happy to see Mourinho go
are the Atletico fans, who barracked the Portuguese coach
throughout last night's games with chants that included 'Mourinho
die'.
Turning his back on Real? Jose Mourinho is photographed
before the clash at Atletico Madrid
But the coach insisted this did not bother
him.
'I have no problems with the crowd's chants against me,' he
said. 'Atletico have a great fan base. They packed the stadium
despite the 3-1 score of the first leg and the cold weather.
'They hoped to see an intense match and they nevertheless stayed
until the end after (Cristiano) Ronaldo's goal. They are a
fantastic crowd that deserves all my respect.'