'Florentino Perez's plan is to bring Mourinho back to Real Madrid'

Martin Macdonald

• Updated: 14 Jan 2026 04:26 CST
• 4 min read

Nieuws

Jose Mourinho has been tipped to make a sensational return to Real Madrid.

Los Blancos are currently looking for a new permanent head coach after Xabi Alonso was sacked after seven months in charge this week.

Even though Madrid are just four points off the pace in La Liga and are poised to comfortably qualify for the next round in the Champions League, there have been constant stories of dressing room discontent since he took over.

Public spats with squad captains like Vinicius Junior and Federico Valverde led to the narrative that players perhaps had too much power behind the scenes.

The final straw for president Florentino Perez apparently came on Sunday when Madrid lost the Spanish Supercopa 3-2 against rivals Barcelona in the Clasico. Alonso was sacked the next day.

Alvaro Arbeloa has been put in caretaker charge but journalist Alfredo Relanto suggested that Mourinho will be targeted for a return by Perez and that the Portuguese has even started ruffling feathers at Benfica so he can be let go, making him available to switch to the Spanish capital.

The journalist told COPE: "His ultimate goal is to bring back Mourinho, who is currently causing a stir at Benfica, precisely so they fire him."

Mourinho was in charge of Real Madrid between 2010 and 2013 and in his time the club won one La Liga, one Copa del Rey and one Supercopa de Espana. He was notably in the opposite dugout from Pep Guardiola for the majority of that period before being sacked.

Jurgen Klopp an option for Real Madrid?

Another legendary manager who is reportedly of interest to Madrid is Jurgen Klopp.

The German, who has been linked with the Madrid job on numerous occasions, stopped short of confirming or denying his future intentions, but did admit that something is "isn't quite right" with Real Madrid at the moment.

“It actually has - though not from Madrid. But yes, there were definitely a few people who felt they had to contact me directly about it," the German said when asked if his phone had been ringing following Alonso's dismissal, while working as a pundit on Servus TV On.

“First of all, I think it’s another sign that something isn’t quite right there at the moment. If Xabi Alonso, who over the last two years in Leverkusen has shown what an outstanding coaching talent he is - and I think at his age and with the number of jobs he’s had, you can say that - is then forced to leave Madrid just six months later, it shows a few things. On the one hand, it shows that nowadays there’s no time anymore. On the other, the expectations at Real Madrid are obviously enormous.

“To make a decision like that in the heat of the moment, after losing a cup final to Barcelona yesterday, says a lot. I think we’d already been hearing rumours for a while. And now - I don’t know if that’s where your question was going - but this has absolutely nothing to do with me, and it didn’t trigger anything for me either, which would probably have been the follow-up question.

“I was surprised, that’s true - genuinely surprised. Then a few people messaged me, and I replied with various emojis.”

Klopp is currently the Head of Global Soccer for Red Bull GmbH.

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