Rodri shock does not rattle Real Madrid: the secret behind Mourinho's calm despite the deal falling through | Goal.com
Far from any crisis linked to the Rodri affair, José Mourinho is working in complete harmony with the Real Madrid board. The Portuguese coach feels great confidence in the club's ability to build a strong and competitive team during the current summer transfer window.
Right now, José Mourinho is a happy man. His happiness stems from the fact that he wears the Real Madrid crest on his chest most of the time. He is working in the place he wants, on the terms he prefers, and with the players he chooses.
From the moment Florentino Pérez decided, in late April, that bringing the Portuguese back represented the best option for Real Madrid, a state of complete harmony and understanding has prevailed between Mourinho and the club's board.
That harmony held until last week, which threw up a mysterious crisis around the Rodri affair. The picture inside the club, though, was entirely different from what circulated beyond its walls, according to the Spanish newspaper "AS".
Since that meeting at the Santo Mauro hotel in the Spanish capital, attended by José Ángel Sánchez, Jony Calafat and José Mourinho, the dialogue between the three parties has stayed clear, frank and complete.
Naturally, Mourinho asked to sign a number of players, and he also told other players directly and personally that he was not counting on them in his upcoming project. All these decisions came within the framework of a mutual agreement with the board. There was never a moment of real tension between the coach and the officials.
Those meetings covered many files tied to the team's future. Among them: the possibility of signing Denzel Dumfries, talk of Bernardo Silva and his versatility and the chance of deploying him in more than one position, the option of strengthening the centre of defence and midfield, and the need to add more pace and power to the attacking line.
Mourinho imposed no conditions on the Real Madrid board. Instead, he laid the team's needs before them from day one, and discussed the positions he sees as needing reinforcement, as well as the names that could give the team the required addition. During those discussions, the name Rodri emerged. Everyone ultimately agreed, particularly after the level the player showed during the World Cup, that he could represent an important and valuable addition to Real Madrid's squad.
Real Madrid did submit an offer for the midfielder, but Rodri chose another one: Barcelona's, in this case. The Whites could not reach an agreement with the player, and more importantly, they never even entered into negotiations with Manchester City over the deal in the first place.
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Real Madrid's board was fully aware of this situation and approved of it. Mourinho accepted it without objection. That confirms the Portuguese coach was not behind the initial crisis some are trying to stir up, and caused no tension inside the club over the failure of the Rodri deal.
Mourinho knows there are three weeks left until the summer window shuts, and that everyone at Valdebebas is working flat out to build a strong team capable of competing on all fronts. Work inside Real Madrid runs through open channels of communication between all parties, with continuous coordination between coach and board over the team's needs and its future.
Of course Mourinho would have liked to see Rodri in a Real Madrid shirt, and there is no doubt the player would have been an important addition. But the collapse of the deal did not turn into a big problem inside the club, and it did not deserve all this anger or the fuss raised around it.
The proof? Mourinho himself, since the Santo Mauro meeting, proposed the need to sign Bernardo Silva, insisting on his ability to play the playmaker role, alongside the other roles he can perform in midfield and attack.
Two months on from that meeting, Bernardo Silva can indeed carry out this role and prove the validity of Mourinho's vision. That gives the Portuguese coach an important extra option in building his tactical plan for the new season.
The question now: does the collapse of the deal mean the door has closed permanently on Rodri? The answer is no.
That door will not shut fully until the summer window closes. At the same time, this does not mean Real Madrid will do everything in their power to sign a new midfielder in the remaining period.
The main reason is simple. Mourinho and the Real Madrid board do not believe the market currently offers a player with the same qualities they want.
So the club keeps searching and studying, but calmly and confidently, without rushing into a decision that may not suit the new sporting project.
Real Madrid already have a range of options capable of giving the team the required balance in midfield, foremost among them Bernardo Silva, Arda Güler and Aurélien Tchouaméni, plus the wait for the picture to clear around Eduardo Camavinga.
The technical staff and the board believe this group can form a strong and varied midfield, especially with some players able to occupy more than one position and switch roles according to the nature of the matches.
This is not only about new signings. Mourinho has already begun to establish his own style inside Real Madrid, and to impose the rules that govern daily life at the training ground, something press reports have revealed over the past few days.
Order, discipline and complete control stand out as the most prominent features of Mourinho's style within the team. He feels great happiness about what he considers a return to his home, after long years away from the club.
With his players, the Portuguese coach deals in great clarity, leaving no room for ambiguity about their roles or their future within the team.
Those players appreciate the clarity, even the ones who know Mourinho will not be counting on them after the window closes. That may lead to some changes in the current squad over the coming weeks.
Nevertheless, these decisions are made through direct dialogue, without stirring up crises or anger inside the dressing room.
Mourinho knows the coming stage will be harder, and that the real test will begin with the start of the official competitions and the rise in pressure. But the Portuguese coach and the Real Madrid board seem to be in complete agreement on how they want to build the team.
Beyond the club's walls, the Rodri affair has stirred a great deal of controversy. Inside Real Madrid, the picture looks calmer.
Mourinho knows his team's needs, the board knows his demands, and the search for the right signings continues, but without haste or random decisions.
For this reason, failing to sign Rodri does not represent a crisis inside Real Madrid right now, but merely a file that has not been settled. The club continues to work on building a team capable of competing, amid complete confidence from Mourinho in the options available to him.
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