Real Madrid will have to cough up £10million and hand it to Manchester United if they appoint Jose Mourinho for a second time.
A severance payment of £15m has been agreed to be paid to the Portuguese after he was dismissed from his job at Old Trafford in December.
According to The Sun, it means he is free to join another club and Real president president Florentino Perez is eager to bring Mourinho back to the Bernabeu.
However, the manager will have to stick to the departure terms, as United’s executive vice chairman Ed Woodward had to pay £15m when United appointed him in 2016 – months after he was sacked by Chelsea in December 2015.
If Mourinho joined a Premier League rival, the payment was to be £15m, with the fee set at £10m if he joined a club in another league.
It is understood Woodward drafted a similar clause in the manager’s Old Trafford contract and release agreement to make sure the Red Devils would not suffer if he was to find another job.
Mourinho left Madrid in 2013 after a dressing room revolt led by Sergio Ramos and Iker Casillas, but Perez appears to be prepared to bite the bullet and meet United’s demands.
The 55-year-old suggested he’s ready to get back into management despite turning down the Benfica job.
He said: “There are things that have been said and I do not want to feed those rumours.
“But when a player or coach is asked to come back to a club it means they did something positive there.
“I felt that when I returned to Chelsea. When a professional returns or is invited to return to a club it is a tremendous honour.
“It’s not a gamble in the dark, the clubs are trying to hire a player or a coach they know, they’ve already been there, and if they invite you it’s because they know the value of the person.”
