Jose Mourinho is Real Madrid president Florentino Perez’s favoured candidate to interchange Alvaro Arbeloa as head coach.
Arbeloa was appointed in January to interchange the sacked Xabi Alonso however is now anticipated to be dismissed on the finish of the season.
Multiple sources, talking anonymously as they didn’t have permission to remark, have instructed The Athletic that the choice on who will turn into Madrid’s subsequent coach is being pushed by Perez.
That is in distinction to the hiring of Alonso to interchange Carlo Ancelotti on the finish of final season, a course of which was led by Madrid’s basic supervisor Jose Angel Sanchez, however given the inexperienced gentle by Perez.
Perez needs to rebuild a mission that has fallen into disrepair, with Madrid set to finish a second consecutive marketing campaign with out successful a serious trophy similar to La Liga, the Champions League or the Copa del Rey.
The president is now the principle supporter of bringing again Mourinho, however another voices inside the membership are opposed.
A return to the Bernabeu would allow Mourinho and Perez to rekindle a relationship that produced three trophies between 2010 and 2013, together with the 2011-12 La Liga title by setting a brand new document factors complete, and set about reclaiming a title the membership has not received for the previous two seasons. The Champions League, a trophy Mourinho has received with Porto and Inter Milan, was the one accolade lacking from his spell within the Spanish capital.
Mourinho received La Liga with Madrid in 2012 (Denis Doyle/Getty Images)
The consideration Mourinho, one of many recreation’s most profitable and outspoken coaches, would carry to each the membership and La Liga would even be interesting following such a forgettable marketing campaign.
However, the 63-year-old was additionally a divisive determine within the dressing room throughout his time in Madrid, and tensions with then-captain Iker Casillas didn’t go down properly amongst many followers and the media.
This season, Mourinho attracted widespread criticism for his feedback after Madrid ahead Vinicius Junior alleged he was racially abused by Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni in a Champions League match in Lisbon on February 17.
After the sport, Mourinho suggested Vinicius Jr had incited the incident. Prestianni, who denied the allegation, was ultimately given a six-match suspension by UEFA for homophobic, moderately than racist, conduct.
Portuguese former Chelsea and Manchester United coach Mourinho joined Benfica in September and is below contract till June 2027. However, the settlement features a clause within the area of €3million, permitting both social gathering to interrupt the deal as much as 10 days after the ultimate match of this season.
It has turn into widespread lately for Madrid to nominate managers who’ve beforehand been on the membership.
Zinedine Zidane returned in 2019 having left only a yr earlier, whereas Ancelotti got here again for a second spell on the Bernabeu in 2021 following his sacking in 2015.
Several different managers throughout this era — Rafael Benitez, Julen Lopetegui, Alonso and Arbeloa — had additionally beforehand been related to Real Madrid, both as gamers or coaches, or each.
The Athletic previously reported that Madrid has thought of United States supervisor Mauricio Pochettino as a attainable candidate to interchange Arbeloa, who was promoted from the membership’s reserve group in January. France coach Didier Deschamps was additionally talked about internally.
Jurgen Klopp has additionally lengthy been admired by the membership hierarchy, regardless of the ex-Liverpool coach insisting publicly a number of instances that he’s completely satisfied in his position as Red Bull’s world head of soccer, a place he took up in January 2025.
