The 2025-2026 season closed in disappointment when Real Madrid did not win any major titles. That result forced the Royal Spanish team's leadership to quickly find a new solution on the coaching bench.
In the context that the 2026 World Cup makes the summer time limit limited, Real Madrid successively placed their trust in two former club players, Xabi Alonso and Alvaro Arbeloa. However, neither of them could create the expected change.
Alonso started quite promisingly but was sacked in January. According to many sources, the reason is not only from professional results but also because he did not receive the necessary support from the board of directors in conflicts with stars like Vinicius Junior.
Arbeloa's successor is also not much better. The young coach has difficulty controlling the dressing room, which is already experiencing many instabilities. The climax is the public conflict between Federico Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni, showing that serious rifts have appeared within the team.
After successively parting ways with Alonso and Arbeloa, Real Madrid continues to rush into the search for a new captain. However, Florentino Perez's familiar choices are no longer available.
Carlo Ancelotti will lead the Brazilian national team at the 2026 World Cup, while Zinedine Zidane is said to still prioritize waiting for the opportunity to take over the French national team. In that context, Jose Mourinho has become a plan of particular interest to President Perez.
Mourinho's appointment also reflects the trend of using familiar faces of Perez in the late term. For the Real Madrid President, this is not simply a nostalgic decision.
Perez believes that the team is facing problems similar to the period in 2010, when Mourinho first set foot on the Bernabeu. At that time, Real Madrid was inferior to Pep Guardiola's Barcelona and needed a coach with enough personality to rebuild.
Currently, in addition to professional difficulties, Real Madrid's leadership is also concerned about the situation of disunity in the dressing room. This is a factor that makes them believe that Mourinho, with his strong personality and collective control ability, can create change.
Perez believes that the dense schedule after the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup is the reason why Real Madrid faced difficulties last season. He emphasized that the team did not have a full preparation period and had to face a series of injuries.
However, inside the club, issues of discipline and cohesion are what leaders are most concerned about. And Mourinho is considered the right person to solve that problem.
Notably, Mourinho was initially not the number one choice in Real Madrid's list of candidates. Even many senior figures at the club once opposed the possibility of reuniting with the Portuguese strategist because they thought he was no longer at the peak as in 2010.
However, Perez's point of view has made a difference. The Real Madrid president still considers Mourinho one of the coaches he trusts most throughout his time running the club.
To complete the deal, Real Madrid even had to mend relations with "super agent" Jorge Mendes, Mourinho's agent. This was once a tense relationship that lasted for many years, but has been significantly improved thanks to efforts from CEO Jose Angel Sanchez.
