José Mourinho is taking over Real Madrid for a second time. Starting this summer, the Portuguese coach’s primary goal will be to restore calm to the Royal Court.
It had been on the horizon in recent weeks, but after winning the presidential election, incumbent Florentino Perez made it official: José Mourinho is returning to the Spanish capital as coach, succeeding Álvaro Arbeloa. Arbeloa had named Mourinho as his “number one” choice for coach at the end of the season—and had spoken with surprising enthusiasm about the Portuguese manager’s potential return.
Now, the outgoing Arbeloa has also “got his wish.” Mourinho’s former club, Benfica, announced on Tuesday evening that Real Madrid is paying 15 million euros for the coach and that he has already agreed to the move. The Portuguese club also immediately presented a successor in Marco Silva, who signed a contract through 2028.
The 63-year-old Mourinho first joined Real in the summer of 2010 after winning the treble with Inter Milan and led the world-class club for a total of three years.
With Real, Mourinho won the Spanish league title, the Spanish Cup, and the Spanish Super Cup at the time. “The Special One” is expected to lead the Royals back to such heights—at least domestically—as quickly as possible. The 2025–26 season demonstrated just how difficult that mission is likely to be. Real endured their second consecutive season without a title and plunged deeper and deeper into crisis toward the end of the season.
15 million euros are due
The Real Madrid locker room, in particular—whose tense atmosphere is the subject of heated debate not only in Madrid—is one of the most significant challenges for Mourinho. But precisely because President Perez, who was re-elected, sees Mourinho as the candidate who can “clean house,” the experienced coach quickly emerged as the favorite in the search for a suitable manager.
Subsequently, however, the process was delayed due to the call for new elections—and it also cost Real money: Because the Royals let a clause in Mourinho’s Benfica contract expire, the record Champions League winner must now pay 15 million euros for its desired coach instead of the originally planned six million. Benfica publicly confirmed this in early June, as the publicly traded club is legally required to disclose its financial transactions.
Three Mourinho showdowns in one month
After his first departure from Madrid, Mourinho moved on to Chelsea, Manchester United, Roma, and Fenerbahçe. Since September 2025, Mourinho has coached Benfica Lisbon for a second time—and despite an unbeaten (!) season, finished only third in the end.
Real Madrid also got a taste of just how difficult it is to play against Mourinho’s teams this season, facing them three times within a single month: To cap off the group stage in the Champions League, the Royals suffered a sensational 2-4 loss in Portugal—including an own goal by the goalkeeper. The two teams then faced off again immediately in the playoffs, with Real narrowly prevailing twice (1-0/2-1).
Starting July 1, Mourinho will once again be at the helm in Madrid. But already, various names are being bandied about as potential parts of the “new beginning”: Liverpool’s free agent center-back Ibrahima Konaté and Inter’s right-back Denzel Dumfries are at the very top of the list.
