Middlesbrough manager Aitor Karanka has described Jose Mourinho as "amazing," telling The Times he learned "a lot" from him when they worked together at Real Madrid.
Karanka steered Boro back to the top flight last season, a year after they had been beaten in the Championship playoff final.
And he said that, like Mourinho, his approach is to "give everything" for his club.
"When I was at Real Madrid again as a coach with Jose, it was the same: working hard," he said.
"I give everything. I wasn't just Jose's assistant. He told me when he called me the first time that he didn't want an assistant next to him always telling him: 'Yes.'
He was always teaching me, always demanding of me, because he is so demanding. Jose is the man. He's all about winning.
"He's an amazing person. I learned a lot from him. I saw how he worked with the media. I saw how he managed the team, how he was tactically.
"He was really supportive of me, always teaching me. I have an amazing relationship with him.
"I learned from Jose that no player is above the team. If we want to win, we have to be together."
The Spaniard also praised Tottenham Hotspur head coach Mauricio Pochettino, saying: "I played against Mauricio many times in Spain. We did our coaching licences together and I could feel then he was going to be a successful manager.
"He's doing an amazing job at Tottenham, as he did at Southampton."
Karanka, who joined Boro in 2013, appeared set to walk away from the club in March, with reports saying he had left the training ground after a row and would not take charge of the game at Charlton.
But he said: "I made it clear that I never wanted to leave and that we had to get in the Premier League.
"From that day we were unbeaten, the last 10 games. I am here and the team is in the Premier League, which is the most important thing."
He pledged that his side "are going to fight every single game to try to beat everyone" as they return to the top flight after seven years.
They open the season against Stoke at the Riverside on Saturday.