Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho has seen general manager Jorge Valdano squeezed out of the club.
Mourinho has asked for Madrid to adopt a more 'British' style and their president Florentino Perez has agreed to his request.
"I want to stress how painful the departure of Jorge Valdano is to me. We have travelled a long distance together," he told a press conference.
Valdano has had a rocky relationship with Mourinho but Perez dismissed media reports that the Portuguese had demanded the former Argentina international be dismissed as a condition for his staying on at the club.
"Mourinho did not make any demands. He asked for more autonomy in line with how English clubs are organised," Perez said.
"Everything that we do we do because they are the right decisions that do not take into account personal sentiment," he added.
