Speaking on 'La Casa del Fútbol', the former Real Madrid player and coach paid tribute to Mourinho's command of the media, deliberately echoing a famous line Pep Guardiola once used about him.
"When it comes to press conferences and communicating, Mourinho remains the absolute master," Valdano said, referencing Guardiola's celebrated 2011 remark as Barcelona coach: "Mourinho is the absolute boss and master in this room," made at the Bernabéu amid a bitter rivalry between the two coaches during Mourinho's first spell at Real Madrid.
Valdano, who worked alongside Mourinho as Real Madrid's sporting director during the 2010/11 season while the Portuguese was head coach, argued that decades of experience have sharpened his rival's messaging to a fine point.
"He has 40 years of experience and it shows when he's in press conferences. Everything he says is very, very well aimed," Valdano said.
"He makes very few mistakes in press conferences and generally strengthens the bond with the fans, the bond with his players. He knows exactly what he's defending. In that, he remains the absolute master."
The comment drew a laugh from Raúl González, who was making his debut as a Movistar analyst in the same broadcast, and to whom Mourinho had pointedly addressed a message during his post-match press conference following Real Madrid's 2-1 win over Inter Milan, after Raúl's on-air assessment of the game reached the Portuguese coach's ears.
"Well, I've got my headline," presenter Noemí de Miguel remarked as the exchange unfolded on air, capturing a lighter moment amid the broader analysis of Mourinho's start to his second spell in charge at the Bernabéu.
Guardiola's original line, delivered in April 2011 during his time as Barcelona coach amid a series of fiery clásicos between the two managers, has become one of the most quoted moments of that era's rivalry. Guardiola had said at the time: "In this room Mourinho is the boss, the master, and I don't want to compete at any point. I'll just remind him that we've been together for four years. He knows me and I know him.
"If he wants to stay with Florentino Pérez's friends and the central dairy... but I've worked four years with him."
Valdano's decision to invoke that exact phrase 15 years later, now in praise rather than exasperation, underlined how differently the two coaches' media relationship is being read during Mourinho's second spell in Madrid.