José Mourinho is Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez’s preferred choice to replace Álvaro Arbeloa as the team’s head coach, according to The Athletic.
Arbeloa was appointed in January to replace the dismissed Xabi Alonso, but he is now expected to be let go at the end of the season.
According to the website, the sports arm of the New York Times, the decision over who will be Madrid’s next coach is being handled entirely by Pérez.
This contrasts with Alonso’s hiring to replace Carlo Ancelotti at the end of last season, a process led by Madrid general manager José Ángel Sánchez but ultimately approved by Pérez.
The report was published this Tuesday (28) in a piece by journalists David Ornstein and Mario Cortegana, but speculation about a possible Mourinho return to Real has already been bubbling up in the Portuguese media for several weeks.
Florentino Pérez wants to rebuild his project at Madrid after a second season that is expected to end without a major trophy such as La Liga, the Champions League or the Copa del Rey.
The president is now the main supporter of Mourinho’s return, although other voices within the club do not back the idea.
A return to the Bernabéu would allow Mourinho and Pérez to rekindle a relationship that brought three trophies between 2010 and 2013, including the 2011/12 La Liga title with a record points haul, and begin the search for a trophy the club has failed to win over the last two seasons.
The Champions League, a trophy Mourinho won with Porto and Inter Milan, was the only major honor missing from his spell in the Spanish capital.
The attention Mourinho would draw to both the club and La Liga would also be seen as a plus after a season well below expectations in Madrid.
The 63-year-old coach, however, was also a divisive figure in the dressing room during his time at Madrid, and the tensions with then-captain Iker Casillas were not well received by many fans and the media.
This season, Mourinho drew criticism for his comments after Madrid forward Vinícius Júnior claimed he had been subjected to racist abuse by Benfica player Gianluca Prestianni during a Champions League match in Lisbon on February 17.
After the game, Mourinho suggested that Vini Jr. had provoked the incident.
Prestianni, who denied the accusation, ultimately received a six-match UEFA ban for homophobic, not racist, conduct.
The Portuguese coach and former Chelsea and Manchester United manager took over at Benfica in September and is under contract until June 2027.
The deal with the Portuguese club, however, includes a release clause of around €3 million, allowing either party to end the agreement up to 10 days after this season’s final match.
Old acquaintances?
Real Madrid have sought out names linked to the club in recent seasons.
Zinedine Zidane returned in 2019 after having left just a year earlier, while Ancelotti came back for a second spell at the Bernabéu in 2021 after being sacked in 2015.
Several other coaches during that period — Rafael Benítez, Julen Lopetegui, Alonso and Arbeloa — had also previously been associated with Real Madrid, whether as players, coaches, or both.
The Athletic previously reported that Madrid considered United States coach Mauricio Pochettino as a possible candidate to replace Arbeloa, who was promoted from the club’s B team in January.
France coach Didier Deschamps has also been mentioned internally.
Jurgen Klopp has also long been admired by the club’s hierarchy, despite the former Liverpool manager repeatedly insisting publicly that he is happy in his role as Red Bull’s global head of soccer, a position he took up in January 2025.
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.
