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The Portuguese José Mourinho returns to Real Madrid thirteen years after his first stint: the club's Board of Directors, led by Florentino Pérez, agreed this Thursday to appoint the Portuguese coach as the head coach of the first team for three seasons, until June 30, 2029.
The 63-year-old coach, arrives as the replacement for Álvaro Arbeloa and will join the club on July 13, the start date of the preseason.
To finalize the signing, Real Madrid paid Benfica the 15 million euros stipulated in the release clause of Mourinho's contract with the Lisbon club, which had already reported the transaction to the Portuguese Securities Market Commission last Tuesday.
Benfica also announced his replacement: coach Marco Silva.
The return of Mourinho was the main electoral promise of Florentino Pérez in the presidential elections held last Sunday, where he defeated his rival Enrique Riquelme with 65% of the votes compared to 35%.
Pérez, proclaimed president until 2030 during an event held at Ciudad Real Madrid, thus begins his eighth term leading the club and introduced the signing of the Portuguese coach as the man capable of guiding the team back to the path of titles.
The sports context prompting the return is clearly one of crisis: Arbeloa took over the first team on January 12, 2026, following Xabi Alonso's departure, and ended the 2025-26 season without any titles, with Madrid eliminated from the Copa del Rey by Albacete, knocked out of the Champions League by Bayern Munich, and overtaken in LaLiga after losing the decisive Clásico.
Mourinho is already well acquainted with the bench at the Bernabéu: during his first spell with the club, from 2010 to 2013, he won the Copa del Rey, the League —with the historic record of 100 points and 121 goals— and the Supercopa de España, accumulating 108 official victories and leading the team to three consecutive Champions League semifinals.
After leaving Madrid in 2013, the coach went through Chelsea, Manchester United, Tottenham, Roma, and Fenerbahçe before arriving at Benfica in September 2025, where he bid farewell with the words: "It was an honor and a privilege."
Under the presidency of Florentino Pérez since July 2000, Real Madrid has won a total of 66 titles, including seven European Cups and seven Leagues in football, placing Mourinho's return within one of the most successful sports projects in the history of European sports.
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