Real Madrid president Florentino Perez is confident Jose Mourinho's style of football will "fit in perfectly" at the Santiago Bernabeu.
In a move that had been widely anticipated for weeks, Madrid last night confirmed the departure of coach Manuel Pellegrini after just one year in charge and the seemingly imminent arrival of Mourinho into the hot-seat.
Madrid are only waiting for Mourinho to resolve his contract negotiations with Inter Milan, with whom he has a deal until June 2012, before being able to unveil the 47-year-old as their new boss.
In Mourinho, Perez believes they will be getting the best coach in the world, but there has been some debate about how the former Chelsea and Porto manager's style of play will be received at Madrid.
Mourinho has a reputation as a defensive coach while the Bernabeu faithful have a predilection for attacking football and last season were treated to a freescoring Madrid side that netted 102 goals in La Liga alone, 60 of which came in 19 home games.
However, Perez believes Mourinho, who while Madrid were ending a second consecutive campaign without silverware was leading Inter to an unprecedented treble of Serie A, Coppa Italia and Champions League titles this season, will be an ideal appointment for the club.
"Mourinho's style of play will surely fit in with the style of play of the history of Madrid. Firstly, to win, the spirit of sacrifice, values, I think it will fit in perfectly," said Perez.
"Madrid is betting on stability, the stability of the Madridistas is to win and be leaders in Europe."
Stability has not necessarily been a buzzword at the Bernabeu in recent times, with Mourinho set to be their 11th coach in the last seven years.
During that period the Spanish giants have won just two major trophies whilst in the Champions League, a competition they have a special affinity with having conquered Europe a record nine times, they have been knocked out at the last-16 stage in six successive years.
In that time, Mourinho has won the competition with both Porto and Inter, becoming only the third coach in history to achieve the feat with two separate clubs.
"The change of coach is always difficult, but we are convinced that after this first year and this first phase, now is the moment to give a fresh impulse to our project," said Perez after announcing the departure of Pellegrini just halfway through a two-year contract.
Madrid appointed Pellegrini to help turn last summer's 250million euro investment in new players into a winning team, but the Chilean came up empty-handed in all three competitions.
"A year ago we there was a huge and unprecedented effort to configure and put together a squad capable of aspiring to the maximum," added Perez.
"We have advanced a lot, but we still have a lot of ground to cover.
"This club demands the maximum and is always in search of excellence. Winning and being leaders in Europe has always been the desire of our members and fans, and therefore, that's the objective of this board."
Mourinho is under contract with the Nerazzurri for another two years, but has a get-out clause in his deal which will be exercised should Madrid meet the fee of 16million euros.
Perez said: "We believe that he is a coach that will add a lot to this important squad that we have.
"And what is still left to resolve is the interpretation, between Mourinho and the club, of his contract.
"It's a topic that we can't speak about because we don't know about it.
"The only one who has spoken to (Inter president Massimo) Moratti was me on Monday, but the parties are resolving a resolution (to his contract) in which we are not participating.
"My hope is that it will be resolved quickly and I believe it will be."
