Guardian

FLORENTINO Perez’s record as Real Madrid president was under scrutiny Tuesday after the construction magnate’s latest coaching project ended in disarray with the premature departure of Jose Mourinho.

Perez, who is up for reelection next month, announced on Monday Mourinho would be leaving at the end of the season, three years before his contract expires.

The world’s richest club by income finished their latest campaign without a major title, surrendering their La Liga crown to arch rivals Barcelona, losing in the semi-finals of the Champions League for the third season in a row and falling 2-1 to Atletico Madrid in last week’s King’s Cup final.

Portuguese Mourinho was the eighth coach Perez has hired during two stints as president - from 2000 to 2005 and from 2009 to the present - during which time around 700 million euros ($900 million) of the club’s money has been spent on players.

A move had been made for Paris St Germain’s Italian coach, Carlo Ancelotti, who has told the French side he wants to leave, but PSG had so far blocked the deal and other candidates were being considered, a grim-faced Perez told reporters at a news conference at the Bernabeu stadium.

Perez lured Mourinho from Inter Milan in 2010 to deliver the 10th European title Real have been chasing since 2002 and end the domestic and continental dominance of arch rivals Barcelona.

However, after a three-year stint marked by division, controversy and conflict ,Mourinho’s record is one La Liga title and one King’s Cup, a meagre haul for a club as wealthy and ambitious as Real.

Perez’s coaching appointments have also proved immensely costly to the club, according to reports in local media.

Real paid Villarreal four million euros in 2009 to release Manuel Pellegrini, who was sacked a year later, and 16 million euros to Inter Milan for Mourinho, the reports said.

Perez, 66, announced on Monday that the next election for the presidency would be held on June 16 and he would be standing for another term.