On October 26th of last year, Barcelona took over the Bernabéu without mercy (0-4). It was the first of the four classics that Real Madrid was going to lose against Hansi Flick's team during the season. But Carlo Ancelotti, who knows Florentino Pérez very well, knew that it would be impossible to overturn that 0-4. Halfway between knowledge and intuition, the Italian concluded his time at the club starting in June and reopened the door to the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), which had already tried to sign him during the last season (their last contact had been a year earlier, in December 2023). That is the starting point of a signing that has been cooking for these months until, in the hours before the return match of that 0-4, resolved last Sunday with another Barcelona victory (4-3), Ancelotti returned the signed contract to Brazil for the next year.
The necessary evil of the bench for Florentino facing the dilemma of succession: Xabi Alonso, equidistant between Ancelotti and Mourinho
The saddest days for Ancelotti: the refuge of Mariann and Katia, the support of Florentino, and the fear of losing the "absolute happiness" of the city of Madrid
Throughout this time, both Florentino and José Ángel Sánchez have had direct information from the Italian, who in turn knew about the contacts that the club had initiated with Xabi Alonso already at the end of last year. The relationship between both parties, in that sense, has been reasonably honest. The president of the CBF, Ednaldo Rodrigues, entrusted the operation to a Brazilian businessman, Diego Fernandes, who has always been accompanied by a Spanish agent, Álvaro Costa, a person with good contacts in Brazil. They, along with two people very close to the coach, have carried the weight of the negotiations. The images of Diego Fernandes at the match against Arsenal and even at the Copa del Rey final (where an agency offered photographers 300 euros for a picture of him in the stands) were evidence that the conversations were progressing.
There were several meetings held over lunches and dinners. Almost all in Madrid. In one of them, Carlo Ancelotti, reviewing the conditions, raised an eyebrow even more. "Why an armored car?", he asked. His interlocutors explained to him that it is common in Rio de Janeiro for personalities to always travel in a car with those characteristics (insecurity is one of the main problems in the city, which always appears in the lists of the most dangerous in the world). Because Ancelotti will live in Rio de Janeiro, in the exclusive area of Leblon, a short distance from the CBF headquarters in Barra de Tijuca, unlike what his son Davide would do, who, if he does not join one of the many proposals he has (Rangers, Leipzig, Como, etc...), would continue with his father, but he would definitely live in Madrid and travel for the matches.
All meetings were held in Madrid. All except one. The one that took place in London on Monday, April 28, from which the rumor emerged, spread by some media, that the negotiations were broken when it was not true. In fact, the bulk of the documents (where a salary, according to Globo Esporte, of almost 10 million euros for this year ending at the World Cup, specifying that Carlo will have a private plane whenever he wants to travel, etc...) began to be drafted after that meeting. Ancelotti, who in these months has contacted, among others, Casemiro and Neymar to sound them out and see how his landing would be easier, signed, according to some sources, on the Saturday before traveling to Barcelona (other sources mention Friday).
During last week, all parties, including Real Madrid, agreed to make the farewell public, and the signing, after the Clásico, regardless of what happened in that match. This partly responds to the urgency of Ednaldo Rodrigues, who sees a 2023 fraud case threatening his position again and wants Ancelotti announced just in case. However, the white club changes its mind at some point between last Wednesday and this Monday. Better said, Florentino Pérez changes his mind and decides not to release the statement that was already prepared to bid farewell to the most successful coach in Real Madrid's history.
The club hints that it is a special affection for the coach, as the president understands that releasing the statement right after the defeat in Barcelona would be somewhat like pointing fingers, as if there were discomfort with him, and nothing, they insist from the club, could be further from the truth. The fact is that Ancelotti had to attend a press conference yesterday in an unlikely situation, having been announced as the coach of Brazil but not having been 'dismissed' by Real Madrid. And in his non-verbal language, it was evident that he did not like that. Also, in some of his responses, sharper than usual, as if biting his tongue to prevent the idyll he has maintained with the club since his arrival, especially in this second stage, from being tarnished by a last-minute disagreement in communication.