Real Madrid are officially making a managerial change for the second summer in a row, with Alvaro Arbeloa not being kept on after taking over from Xabi Alonso in January. His replacement will be a very familiar face for those associated with the Bernabeu club, that being Jose Mourinho.
For a number of weeks, speculation linking Mourinho with a return to Real Madrid has gradually ramped up. Last month, Florentino Perez made him his preferred candidate to succeed Arbeloa, and in the last few days, talks have begun between the two parties in regard to his expected return.
Behind the scenes, Mourinho made it very clear that he wanted to return to Real Madrid 13 years after his first spell in charge, and according to Fabrizio Romano, a verbal agreement has now been reached for the Portuguese to return to the Bernabeu from the summer.
Mourinho will arrive in Madrid after next weekend’s final match of the season against Athletic Club, at which point he will sign his new contract, which will be for an initial two years. A full agreement has been reached verbally, meaning that everyone can be finalised once he travels to the Spanish capital.
Can Mourinho turn things around at Real Madrid?
Since the start of the 2024-25 season, Real Madrid have been going only one way, and that is down. They have failed to win a single major trophy since the Champions League in 2024, with three managers (Carlo Ancelotti, Alonso and Arbeloa) having failed to make the desired impact in this regard.
On top of this, in-house tensions have increased significantly in recent months, and these reached boiling point when Aurelien Tchouameni and Fede Valverde came to blows a couple of weeks ago. However, Real Madrid and Perez believe Mourinho is the ideal man to get everyone back in unison, but whether he can remains to be seen.
