Departing Real Madrid general manager Jorge Valdano: I have not spoken to Jose Mourinho 'for a long time'

Outgoing Real Madrid general manager Jorge Valdano has revealed that he had stopped talking to coach Jose Mourinho 'for a long time'.
The 55-year-old was relieved of his duties at the club on Wednesday evening. In a quickly arranged press conference at the Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid president Florentino Perez explained that due to structural changes at the club and 'the withdrawal of this Director General's office, it has been agreed to rescind Jorge Valdano's contract with the club.'
Perez also stressed that Mourinho had not asked for more power at Madrid and said: 'Mourinho did not make any demands. He asked for more autonomy in line with how English clubs are organised.
'Everything that we do, we do because they are the right decisions that do not take into account personal sentiment.'
However, Valdano, who was at loggerheads with Mourinho for much of the 2010-11 season and whose appointment he reportedly opposed last summer, gave a different perspective on the issue.
'I am not the one who turned Real Madrid into a battlefield,' said the Argentine in a media briefing that followed that of Perez. 'All my efforts this season were directed toward restraint.
'It has been a long time since I have spoken personally to Mourinho. We greet each other politely, but he sought to deal with people other than me. My responsibilities with the first team were reduced. I did not feel comfortable in that situation.'
However, Valdano believes that Madrid, who reached the semi-finals of the Champions League this season and also won the Copa del Rey, will progress under the Portuguese trainer.
'I believe Jose Mourinho staying on is good for a club that's been unstable in the past,' he said. 'It needs to settle for a reasonable period of time. He's done a good job, I believe he is a good coach and I find it normal that he stays on.

'Real Madrid is great, which doesn't mean this new structure belittles it. The president came up with this solution to resolve a difficult situation that wasn't easy to manage.'

'It is always painful to leave people and places you love. The public had to know about this and I wished to say goodbye.'
Valdano played for Madrid during the 1980s and also won the Primera Division title in 1994-95 as their coach. The former Argentina international was the Spanish giants’ sporting director between 2000 and 2004 during Perez’s first presidential tenure.