AS reported that Benfica have dropped their demand for compensation equivalent to Mourinho's gross annual salary of approximately €15 million, having been offered improved conditions to facilitate the arrival of his chosen successor, Marco Silva.
The Fulham manager, also represented by super-agent Jorge Mendes, has a renewal offer from the London club on the table but is set to take the Benfica job. The agreement satisfies all parties involved: Benfica, Real Madrid, Mourinho, Fulham and Silva himself.
Mourinho, currently on holiday in Portugal and monitoring the situation from a distance, has not been idle in the meantime. He has submitted a detailed report to Real Madrid outlining his assessment of the squad and the positions he believes require reinforcement this summer.
His initial reading, subject to revision once he can observe players in pre-season and assess their interactions first-hand, is that the club needs one or two central defenders, a right-back, a left-back and two central midfielders. One of those midfielders he describes — using a Portuguese footballing term — as a player of "ligação": the connective tissue of the team, the one who makes everything function. The other is a holding midfielder.
The election itself remains the only procedural obstacle. Pérez called the snap vote after a second consecutive season without a major trophy, and faces challenger Enrique Riquelme, a 37-year-old businessman whose candidacy was formally ratified by the club's electoral board last week. It is the first contested election at Real Madrid since 2006.
Pérez is the clear favourite among the club's 100,000 members. Should he prevail, the strategy is to waste no time — Mourinho confirmed and operational before the end of the week.