Man Utd will still demand £10m from Real Madrid for Jose Mourinho even after settling compensation fee with axed boss

Mourinho and his agent Jorge Mendes have negotiated the Portuguese boss' £15m severance payment after he was sacked by the Old Trafford club before Christmas.

The deal means he is free to join another club, with Real president Florentino Perez keen to bring the Portuguese back to the Bernabeu.

But United executive chairman Ed Woodward will force Mourinho to stick to the terms of the departure agreement after being stung for £15m when United appointed the Portuguese in 2016.

As part of Mourinho’s departure deal from Chelsea in December 2015, compensation was due to the Stamford Bridge club if he joined another club within 12 months.

If Mourinho joined a Premier League rival, the payment was to be £15m, with the fee set at £10m if the Portuguese joined a club in another league.

United’s signing of Mourinho activated that clause, with the payment written off in United’s transfer accounts.

And it is understood Woodward drafted a similar clause in Mourinho contracts and release agreement to ensure United would not catch a financial cold if the sacked boss walks into another job.

Real’s apparent desperation to land Mourinho, who left in 2013 after a dressing room revolt led by Sergio Ramos and Iker Casillas, means Perez will be prepared to bite the bullet and meet United’s demands.

But it will save Woodward an eight-figure sum in his overall financial calculations and make the decision to dismiss Mourinho easier to swallow in cash terms.

Mourinho appeared to hint he is ready to go back to Madrid although Benfica, where he quit in 2000 after just nine games in his first managerial job, also want him to return in place of sacked Rui Vitoria.

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 honor.

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."

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