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Jose Mourinho is Real Madrid president Florentino Perez’s favoured candidate to replace Alvaro Arbeloa as head coach.

Arbeloa was appointed in January to replace the sacked Xabi Alonso but is now expected to be dismissed at the end of the season.

Multiple sources, speaking anonymously as they did not have permission to comment, have told The Athletic that the decision on who will become Madrid’s next coach is being driven by Perez.

That is in contrast to the hiring of Alonso to replace Carlo Ancelotti at the end of last season, a process which was led by Madrid’s general manager Jose Angel Sanchez, but given the green light by Perez.

Perez wants to rebuild a project that has fallen into disrepair, with Madrid set to end a second consecutive campaign without winning a major trophy such as La Liga, the Champions League or the Copa del Rey.

The president is now the main supporter of bringing back Mourinho, but some other voices within the club are opposed.

A return to the Bernabeu would enable Mourinho and Perez to rekindle a relationship that produced three trophies between 2010 and 2013, including the 2011-12 La Liga title by setting a new record points total, and set about reclaiming a title the club has not won for the past two seasons. The Champions League, a trophy Mourinho has won with Porto and Inter Milan, was the only accolade missing from his spell in the Spanish capital.

The attention Mourinho, one of the game’s most successful and outspoken coaches, would bring to both the club and La Liga would also be appealing following such a forgettable campaign.

However, the 63-year-old was also a divisive figure in the dressing room during his time in Madrid, and tensions with then-captain Iker Casillas did not go down well among many fans and the media.

This season, Mourinho attracted widespread criticism for his comments after Madrid forward Vinicius Junior alleged he was racially abused by Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni in a Champions League match in Lisbon on February 17.

After the game, Mourinho suggested Vinicius Jr had incited the incident. Prestianni, who denied the allegation, was eventually given a six-match suspension by UEFA for homophobic, rather than racist, conduct.

Portuguese former Chelsea and Manchester United coach Mourinho joined Benfica in September and is under contract until June 2027. However, the agreement includes a clause in the region of €3million, allowing either party to break the deal up to 10 days after the final match of this season.

It has become common in recent years for Madrid to appoint managers who have previously been at the club.

Zinedine Zidane returned in 2019 having left just a year earlier, while Ancelotti came back for a second spell at the Bernabeu in 2021 following his sacking in 2015.

Several other managers during this period — Rafael Benitez, Julen Lopetegui, Alonso and Arbeloa — had also previously been associated with Real Madrid, either as players or coaches, or both.

The Athletic previously reported that Madrid has considered United States manager Mauricio Pochettino as a possible candidate to replace Arbeloa, who was promoted from the club’s reserve team in January. France coach Didier Deschamps was also mentioned internally.

Jurgen Klopp has also long been admired by the club hierarchy, despite the ex-Liverpool coach insisting publicly several times that he is happy in his role as Red Bull’s global head of soccer, a position he took up in January 2025.

dechriz:
I thought Real Madrid wanted to sign Jurgen Klopp. Honestly, Klopp will do wonders at Madrid.

Mariangeles:
I support this.

Mourinho knows how to clip wings of players that feel they're too big to take orders.

Charlieabc:
Buy Oshimeh and Let's see what become of that next season. Hands crossed.

upower123:
Football is funny at time...mourinho is outdated...he is not the special one again... only time can tell..

Mariangeles:
I support this.

Mourinho knows how to clip wings of players that feel they're too big to take orders.

Starboytwo:
Is he going there to clip wings or win trophies??

Solofresh2:
Liverpool system of play is different from that of Madrid if you check well.Madrid won't cope with klopp's structure.

Luckysbab:
There's more to changing the manager.

The team needs some reshuffling.

Mariangeles:
There's even more to hiring Mourinho.
If you know, you know.