Leaked audio recordings once revealed what Florentino Perez really thinks of Jose Mourinho

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FT Desk

Jose Mourinho has made a sensational return to Real Madrid, 13 years after he was sacked by president Florentino Perez.

Following the dismissal of Xabi Alonso midway through the 2025/26 season, Alvaro Arbeloa was tasked with taking over until the end of the campaign as Perez searched for a new Galactico boss.

In the end, he thought "better the devil you know..." as he soon made an approach for Mourinho, who had been working with Benfica.

In Mourinho's first stint in the Spanish capital, he won one La Liga, one Copa del Rey and one Supercopa de Espana, crucially overcoming the might of Pep Guardiola's Barca for the Primera Division triumph in 2012.

As he tends to do, though, he left the club under a cloud after falling out with the hierarchy, while performances on the pitch dipped as well.

He made an emotional return to Chelsea and enjoyed domestic success there, but his career has been on a downward trend in terms of success at an elite level since.

What makes his appointment all the more bizarre is how badly his relationship with Perez was when he was sacked.

In July of 2021, leaked audio recordings of Perez emerged in the media, which revealed what he really thought of Mourinho, as well as Cristiano Ronaldo and super-agent Jorge Mendes.

Perhaps most controversially, Perez called the legendary figures of Raul and Iker Casillas the two biggest frauds in the history of the club despite their service at the Santiago Bernabeu.

He would go on to call Mourinho and Ronaldo "abnormal" and slam their egos at the time when all three men were at Real Madrid as president, head coach and player.

El Confidencial reports that Perez said in 2012:

"[Jorge]Mendes doesn’t control [Cristiano], just like he doesn’t control Mourinho. Zero weight. These are guys with a serious ego, both spoiled, and they don’t see reality because they could both earn a lot more money if they were otherwise inclined.

“These two are abnormal, because we’re talking about a lot of money in respect to image rights. Also, with that face they have, that defiant way, that everyone dislikes them; if the publicity is the opposite, it’s the opposite!”

Mourinho's first tenure at the Santiago Bernabeu ended after a series of high-profile arguments.

The Portuguese boss was critical of players like Casillas, Sergio Ramos and eventually Ronaldo. Initially the camp was split in two over their allegiances, but eventually, all the players turned on the head coach.

🔊 Mourinho: “Working for Real Madrid is an honor and a responsibility”. pic.twitter.com/KWjPOzSUC1

— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) July 10, 2026

Mourinho back at Real Madrid

Even though Mourinho's return was all but confirmed after Perez won the latest Real Madrid elections, he has only just been presented this week.

“Words are not enough because this feels like a mission. It's not about worrying about myself or whether I'll win a lot or a little," he told the official club website.

"I'm here to help everyone become better: players, staff… Creating a culture of work, responsibility, ambition, and something I know well—responsibility and the honor of working for Real Madrid. I really like this concept. It’s not about working at Real Madrid; it’s about working for Real Madrid. And it’s with this mission-driven spirit that I am here.”

Mourinho is already back on the training pitch, though there are still plenty of his players yet to appear due to their participation in the World Cup.

“We are working a lot. It’s not like I arrived here today and everything starts now," he assured.

"We’ve been working hard for a long time with the club’s structure at different levels. Today, you can work without being physically present because technology helps us a lot, and today has basically been about arriving and 'checking' everything that has been done and what we still need to do.”