Real boss Pérez denies Mourinho ultimatum

MADRID - Florentino Pérez, the Real Madrid president, has taken the unusual step of speaking out publicly to deny a story which claimed the club’s captains Sergio Ramos and Iker Casillas presented him with an ultimatum: if José Mourinho stays, we go.On the day when Madrid learnt that Casillas is almost certain to miss the Champions League matches against Manchester United due to a broken finger, Pérez refused to answer questions on Mourinho’s future but described the report in the newspaper Marca as “absolutely false”. Marca defended its story, published yesterday, insisting: “We report what has happened.”Casillas has fractured the first metacarpus in his left hand following a clash with his team-mate Alvaro Arbeloa. He was set to undergo surgery on Friday. Although no formal prognosis has been offered he is expected to be out of action for up to two months, meaning that he would not be available to face United. Antonio Adán will replace him but Madrid are also looking at goalkeepers in the transfer window. “I feel truly sorry,” Pérez said of Casillas’s injury. Yet it was the front page of Marca that dominated the day. The paper said that during a meal with Pérez and Madrid’s director-general, José Angel Sánchez, Casillas and Ramos conveyed the message on behalf of a number of players in the squad. The headline on the paper’s cover read: “In June, either Mourinho or us.” Casillas and Ramos had eaten with the president and director-general as they do at around this time every year in order to reach an agreement on the players’ bonuses for titles won.The response from Madrid was immediate: a press conference called for 1pm, sparking speculation. Some wondered ifMourinho was about to be sacked. Instead, he was defended. Pérez, who did not name the newspaper once, appeared angry and was direct in confronting the story, accusing some in the media of seeking to destabilise the club.Pérez does not often appear in public and some of the club’s more radical supporters have recently been demanding that he acts more decisively against the media as critical coverage of Mourinho increases. There are presidential elections in the summer.

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Real boss Pérez denies Mourinho ultimatum