Fixtures that were once seemed eternal at the Santiago Bernabeu are now changing. One such is the absence of any silverware when under the presidency of Florentino Perez, but that could change now with the arrival of Jose Mourinho. Similarly, the arrival of the Portuguese tactician has seen the departure of Madrid legends Raul Gonzalez and Guti, something one could not have envisaged any time soon.

Raul has signed for perennial German underachievers Schalke 04, while Guti has signed a deal at Turkish side Besiktas. The Madrid Sports Daily Marca naturally claimed this transfer of Madrid’s record goalscorer as a victory for Cristiano Ronaldo, who could now change from CR9 to his original CR7 at Manchester United. Naturally, the one million CR9 shirts sold since the arrival of the perma-tanned superstar in Madrid will not be an obstacle to this.

Guti’s departure, on the other hand, will not be met with as much sadness, but instead fans will feel regret for what might have been. The Spanish playmaker may have won as much silverware as his captain Raul, but with the outrageous technique he was blessed with, there lacked a work-rate. In fact, in his final seasons, a number of goals conceded by Real could be traced back to a sloppy pass or a lack of tracking back by the Spanish midfielder. Despite this, there were flashes of genius, such as the back-heeled assist for Karim Benzema to tap the ball into an empty net, which broke a 20-year winless streak at Deportivo’s La Riazor stadium.

The sacking of Coach Manuel Pellegrini was entirely expected, given the hounding his every move was met with by Marca, practically the propaganda arm of Florentino Perez. Mourinho has been declared as some sort of deity by the same paper for instilling rules that are seen as the norm at most professional sports teams. Mourinho is now charge of the most successful club in European football, facing a formidable Barcelona side in his bid for glory.

The double Champions League winner has a squad of fantastic technical ability, but the question is whether Mourinho’s results-driven pragmatic style can adapt to Perez’s dream of winning with beautiful football. Sergio Canales, architect of the destruction of England U-19s, is seen as the natural replacement for Guti, but without the tendencies to shirk from defensive graft. He is likely to take the understudy role to Kaka, who will play as the central playmaker in a system based on Mourinho’s treble-winning side at Inter Milan. Therefore the future of Rafael van der Vaart is also undecided, but one imagines he is likely to make an exit from the Bernabeu, given that he lacks the dynamism of Kaka and Canales.

Gonzalo Higuain and Karim Benzema (if he can fight against sleeping with underage prostitutes) are likely to contest the lone striker role that Mourinho favours in most of his teams. Didier Drogba and Diego Milito were able to do their defensive work whilst also troubling opposition in lone attacks. Their ability to hold the ball up for the midfielder runners was highly successful as players like Lampard and Sneijder made runs from deep to score. Cristiano Ronaldo also possesses the physique and ability to take on such a role as he successfully did in his final years at Manchester United.

 The signings of traditional wingers Pedro Leon (£9m from Getafe) and Angel Di Maria (£21m from Benfica) hints at a desire to play attacking football but the presence of a sporting director always places doubt on whether the manager wanted these signings at all. Ronaldo’s preferred position is as a winger, so there are many options available for Mourinho once again.

The lack of pace in his 2009/10 Inter Milan side (with the exception of Maicon, Eto’o and possibly Pandev) meant the side had to adopt a deep defensive line, with the doble pivote of Cambiasso and Zanetti (or Motta) providing additional cover. In contrast, the back line at Real Madrid contains considerable pace in Sergio Ramos (who could be reverted to central defence if Maicon is signed) and Pepe. Ricardo Carvalho could be signed in a cut-price £5m deal to provide cover.

Mourinho intends to use Xabi Alonso in one half of this two-man defensive screen to break up play and use his passing range and technique to create opportunities for players further up the pitch. The players who will audition for the role as his partner include Fernando Gago (almost sold to Manchester City in January), Lassana Diarra (only played two full league games under Mourinho at Chelsea) and Mahamadou Diarra (recently recovered from a serious injury). The signing of Sami Khedira from Stuttgart (subject to a medical) seems to be the most likely option, with at least one of the other three being sold.

Mourinho loves solving problems and nothing will challenge him more than attempting to get the best out of Kaka and Benzema, after both endured average campaigns when brought in as the new faces of Perez’s Galactios 2.0 project. The self-entitled ‘Special One’ is lucky that the politics and sway of Raul and Guti within the boardroom is now gone. Even the introductory press conference saw the signs of a power-shift at Real Madrid. For once, the manager may have all the control.

Mourinho’s sides are built on solid defences (Chelsea of 2005/06 conceded just 15 goals as they stormed to the title) so how he balances the demands of free-flowing football from the president along with his own desire to improve on the 35 goals conceded in 2009/10 will make for a fascinating watch. Oh, and he also has to fend off the best Barcelona side in history…