Jose Mourinho has decided to leave Real Madrid at the end of the season to take up a job in the Premier League.
The Portuguese manager, formally named the best in the world after winning an unprecedented treble of Champions League, Serie A and Coppa Italia in 2010, has grown tired of factionalism and resistance to his improvements at the Bernabeu.
Five points ahead of Barcelona in the Primera Liga entering yesterday's fixtures and with a perfect record in this season's Champions League, Mourinho intends to guide Real to the domestic title for the first time in four years and to European success for the first time in a decade before leaving the club in May. He has already decided on his next destination.
Mourinho, 49, has resolved to return to England, where he won five major trophies in three full seasons at Chelsea. In selecting a club to move he will place an ability to work with the full support of players and ownership ahead of status and a readiness to match his €10 million (Dh47m) net salary at Madrid.
His timing is such that he is unlikely to be short of offers. Roberto Mancini is expected to deliver the title to Manchester City while Manchester United's succession is one he has long sought to be a part of but which depends on the intentions of his friend Sir Alex Ferguson.
Chelsea's struggle to retain their Champions League status has placed a question mark over the long-term prospects of Andre Villas-Boas. Arsene Wenger is facing a similar challenge at Arsenal and can expect to be again targeted by Real president Florentino Perez as an alternative to Mourinho.
Harry Redknapp has made no secret of his desire to succeed Fabio Capello as England manager, a move that Daniel Levy, the Tottenham Hotspur chairman, reportedly would welcome. Redknapp is also under threat of jail sentence from his ongoing trial for tax evasion. At Liverpool, a consortium ownership have not been as impressed with Kenny Dalglish's management as are the club's supporters.
Though Mourinho's efforts to restructure Real into an efficient, modern club have met significant internal opposition, reports last week that Perez will dismiss him unless he wins both the league and Champions League were inaccurate.
Rather, it is Mourinho who intends to end his contract there regardless of whether he becomes the first coach to achieve a "grand slam" of English, Italian and Spanish titles.
Fundamental to Mourinho's decision is a frustration with the workings of Real.
His attempts to restrict the influence of the city's press on club matters which ultimately involved limiting access to training and interviews have proved problematic, with his management style, tactics and attitude regularly questioned.
Those critiques have been fuelled by the relationship between the media and Real's core of Spain internationals. As World Cup and European Championship winners, Xabi Alonso, Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos are effectively immune from press criticism, and have expressed resistance to their manager's methods.
