Mourinho to decide Real Madrid future at end of season

Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho refrained from committing to remaining at the club beyond the end of this season on Friday and said a decision on his future would be taken at the end of the current campaign.

Speculation about the Portuguese's possible exit has been a near-constant feature of his stint at Real, whom he joined from Inter Milan in 2010, and he has been linked with a move to wealthy clubs including another of his former teams, Chelsea, and Paris St Germain.

Mourinho has rarely given the traditional coach's news conference the day before this season's La Liga games, typically sending out his number two Aitor Karanka, but appeared on Friday and was bombarded with questions about whether he will see out his contract, which ends in June 2016.

"The fundamental thing is to finish the season in the best way possible and then sit down together and reach conclusions that will be the most positive ones possible for everyone," he said.

Real, who are second in La Liga and host Real Betis on Saturday, are poised to surrender their title to great rivals Barcelona but are through to the Champions League semi-finals to face Borussia Dortmund and meet city neighbours Atletico in the King's Cup final next month.

"My relationship with the president ... and the other directors and in general my relationship with the club is a very good relationship," Mourinho added.

"This allows us to sit down and analyse things calmly and decide what is best for Real Madrid, what is best for me, what is best for the president, what is best for everyone," he added.

"Normally there are problems between a coach and his club when situations like this arise but with me there are no problems, which is down to me, down to them and down to our personalities and our affectionate relations.

"We have a good relationship and that's why I think that with calm we will reach the conclusion at the right time that is the best for everyone."

Speculation about Mourinho's future was fanned this week by comments from the president of Canillas, a feeder club for Real where Mourinho's son plays.

The president, Manuel Alvarez, said on local radio that Mourinho had told him he would not be around next season.

Mourinho's departure would leave president Florentino Perez in a difficult position as he has constantly referred to the former Porto manager as "the world's best coach".

"Talking about Canillas is almost like talking about a second home for my son and obviously for me," Mourinho said.

"But it's a club that has a small problem in that they have a president who loves the press and loves attention," he added.

"He is a fantastic person and I can only speak well of him in terms of what he has done for my son. But he has this little problem, the problem is not mine."

Real should focus for the time being on football and the right decision for everyone would be taken after the end of the season, Mourinho said.

"The decision has to be the best one for everyone and nothing more," he added.

"The perfect coach doesn't exist, the perfect club doesn't exist, the perfect place doesn't exist."

Photograph: Felix Ordonez / Reuters