Jose Mourinho looks set to leave Inter Milan for Real Madrid after admitting that the Champions League final "will almost certainly" be his last game with the club.
Mourinho denied already meeting with Real officials in the immediate aftermath of the final, but he revealed that he is ready to move on after achieving an unprecedented treble with Inter.
"The Champions League I won at Porto (2004) was my last game there and this time it will almost certainly be my last game for Inter,'' Mourinho told Italian television station
RAI.
"I want another challenge in my career. I want to become the only coach to win the Champions League with three different clubs. It's not definite that I'll go but I want new risks, new experiences, and now is the moment to decide.''
"I don't know the (Real Madrid) project yet, so I have to hear the project, but at the moment I am not the coach of Real Madrid; I am the coach of Inter and a very proud coach of Inter.
"Inter remains an option and I have a fantastic family here, but Real is the best option I have. The percentage of me leaving is higher than that of staying.
"It (Real) is an enormous club, a club that wants the same as me; I want to win, I want to feel important, I want to keep winning.
And Mourinho went as far as suggesting that he will meet with Real president Florentino Perez in the coming days to thrash out the terms of his move.
"It was difficult to leave Chelsea and it will be sad to leave Inter. Inter is my home in the same way Chelsea was my home. But that's life, that's football.
"Now I have two homes, Stamford Bridge and San Siro. And now I will have a third home - probably the Santiago Bernabeu. If you don't coach Real Madrid then you always have a gap in your career.
"Only Real are interested in me but I haven't spoken with anyone and I haven't signed anything. I promised I'd speak after the final.'' The day after tomorrow (I will speak to Perez).''
More than 40,000
Nerazzurri supporters crowded the San Siro as the players and coaching staff paraded the trophy on the pitch on Sunday, but Mourinho was not with them, chossing instead to spend time with his family.
The headline in Spanish newspaper
AS was simply "Signed", while
Marca also suggested that Mourinho had already agreed to replace Manuel Pelligrini at the Bernabeu before Saturday's Champions League final.
Madrid have long been linked with a move for Mourinho but that speculation has peaked over the last few months with the Spanish giants struggling to justify the huge on-field investment they made last summer.
Under returning president Florentino Perez, Madrid spent around £217 million (250million euros) on new players but they ended up trophyless for the second successive campaign after being pipped to the league title by rivals Barcelona and suffering disappointing early exits from the Champions League and Copa del Rey.
Pellegrini, the man tasked last summer with taking Madrid back to the top of the tree both in Spain and in Europe, is still officially in the Bernabeu hotseat, but his time in charge may now just be days away from ending.
