Mourinho: “I have had no contact with Real Madrid”
Real Madrid is counting on Mourinho to step in as the team licks its wounds after a crushing Clásico defeat that handed the La Liga title to Barcelona. The future of the white-clad club now rests squarely in the hands of the Portuguese manager.
The team’s dismal performance on the pitch—and even more so the fractured atmosphere in the dressing room—demands a deep rebuild. Florentino Pérez has decided that Mourinho is the man to lead that overhaul. The successful cycle under Carlo Ancelotti ended without a proper successor in Xabi Alonso, whom the president had doubted even before hiring him. Now the ball is in José Mourinho’s court.
The first move came from the coach, who initiated a half-hour video call with Florentino. During the conversation, the two discussed the club’s current state, the locker room mood, and the president’s future expectations.
**Requirements and the Release Clause**
Florentino listened to Mourinho’s demands for taking over Real Madrid. The club’s dire situation has flipped the script: it is no longer Mourinho offering his services, but the white club needing him. As a result, the Setubal-born coach’s requests received a green light from the Madrid chief.
Those demands include a two-year contract, the removal of Pintus from the first-team staff, the creation of a club spokesperson role, a direct line to Florentino, and oversight of the club’s medical department.
The president found all these conditions feasible, including the departure of the fitness coach—a figure that Ancelotti himself declined to retain during his second stint at the club. Coaches prefer to avoid having ‘spies’ in the locker room, and Pintus is widely seen as Florentino’s man, his eyes and ears.
So, at this moment, Real Madrid is waiting for Mourinho to call back so the contract can be drafted and his two-season signing finalized. A potential third season could be added if both parties agree.
Mourinho still has one more year on his Benfica contract, but he can activate a release clause that would cost Real Madrid €6 million. He has until the end of May to trigger that clause, creating some urgency in the Real Madrid offices for the Portuguese to pick up the phone and accept Florentino’s offer. Relations between Real Madrid and Benfica are excellent, so the move should not cause any problems.
This would be the second consecutive summer that Real Madrid pays a transfer fee for a coach. Last year, the club shelled out €8 million to secure Xabi Alonso from Bayer Leverkusen, who had one year left on his deal.
The move would bring Mourinho back to the top tier after stints at clubs of lesser international standing, such as Tottenham, Roma, Fenerbahçe, and now Benfica. It mirrors the case of Ancelotti, whom Florentino ‘rescued’ from Everton when it seemed the Italian’s golden years on the bench were behind him.
**Related Coverage**
A key cloud over Mourinho’s potential return: his role during a controversial incident between Benfica and Real Madrid in Lisbon, where Vinícius triggered anti-xenophobia protocol after alleging that Benfica’s Argentine player Prestianni called him a “monkey.” Instead of condemning the possible insult from his own player, Mourinho focused on Vinícius’s goal celebration. “I told Vini: You scored a world-class goal. Why celebrate like that? Why not celebrate like Di Stéfano, Pelé, Eusébio…? Why do it like that? That’s the one thing I don’t get. The last thing this is…”
