Real Madrid president Florentino Perez prefers Jose Mourinho to replace embattled head coach Alvaro Arbeloa, according to The Athletic’s David Ornstein and Mario Cortegana.
General manager Jose Angel Sanchez previously oversaw the process that led to Xabi Alonso’s appointment as Carlo Ancelotti’s successor at the end of last season. Real Madrid promoted Arbeloa from the reserve team to take charge of the senior ranks after sacking Alonso in January, and now Perez is driving the selection process for the next head coach, multiple sources told The Athletic.
Arbeloa is reportedly expected to be dismissed at the end of the season.
Real Madrid are headed toward back-to-back seasons without winning La Liga, the Copa del Rey, or the Champions League for the first time since the 2008-09 and 2009-10 campaigns.
Mourinho, who last won a domestic league title with Chelsea in 2015, is a surprise candidate to return to Real Madrid after leaving the Bernabeu in 2013. The 63-year-old was sacked as Fenerbahce boss in August 2025 after the team failed to qualify for the Champions League via the playoffs. He returned to Benfica – where he held his first job as a first-team head coach – the following month.
One pertinent flashpoint since Mourinho reassumed control of the Lisbon club occurred in February, when he suggested that Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior’s goal celebration had incited the racist response the Brazilian winger said he received from Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni.
Some voices behind the scenes at Real Madrid are opposed to Perez’s support for Mourinho’s second tenure in the Spanish capital, Ornstein and Cortegana add.
Previous names linked with the anticipated Madrid vacancy include United States men’s national team handler Mauricio Pochettino, outgoing France boss Didier Deschamps, and Liverpool icon Jurgen Klopp, who currently serves as Red Bull’s global head of soccer.
In Mourinho’s three seasons as Real Madrid head coach, Los Blancos won one La Liga title, the Copa del Rey, and the Supercopa de Espana. His team was a beaten Champions League semifinalist in each of those campaigns.
Mourinho won the Champions League and two league titles apiece with FC Porto and Inter Milan. He also won three Premier League titles, the FA Cup, and three League Cups with Chelsea. The Portuguese veteran boasts success in all major European club competitions: a 2003 UEFA Cup win with Porto, a 2017 Europa League title with Manchester United, and a 2022 Europa Conference League triumph with Roma sit alongside his Champions League victories.
