Real Madrid is bringing back José Mourinho for a second spell, 13 years after the Portuguese coach left the club.
Mourinho has agreed to a three-year contract and will officially take charge on July 13, when preseason begins.
The move returns Mourinho to a club he coached from 2010 to 2013, a run that brought Madrid a Liga title and a Copa del Rey. His first spell also left a lasting mark because of his abrasive style, public confrontations and reported tensions inside the squad.
Mourinho now takes over an underachieving Real Madrid side that has gone two years without a major title despite Kylian Mbappé being part of the team. The club also went through Xabi Alonso and Álvaro Arbeloa this season.
Madrid’s season included a fight between players, fans jeering the team and players questioning Arbeloa’s decisions. Florentino Pérez added to the turmoil by calling early elections, which he then won, while criticizing media coverage he believed was aimed at forcing him out.
Mourinho returns after a turbulent first Madrid spell
Mourinho’s first Madrid tenure sharpened the club’s rivalry with Barcelona, then led by Pep Guardiola and Lionel Messi. Pérez had hired him after Mourinho’s rise from FC Porto, where he won the Champions League in 2004, and his time at Chelsea, where he described himself as “a special one.”
The rivalry with Guardiola intensified in 2011, when Mourinho said he “would be ashamed” to win a Champions League the way Guardiola had, arguing Barcelona benefited from refereeing decisions. Later that year, he poked a Guardiola assistant coach in the eye during a scuffle between the teams.
After winning the 2012 Liga title, Mourinho and Madrid separated in 2013 with three years left on his contract. The exit followed a Copa del Rey final loss to Atletico Madrid and reports of a falling-out with players including Iker Casillas.
Pérez turns back to Mourinho after years away from elite jobs
Now 63, Mourinho returns without the same serial-winner aura he carried earlier in his career. His time at Manchester United from 2016 to 2018 was followed by jobs at Tottenham, Roma, Fenerbahce and Benfica.
His only trophy since leaving United was the 2022 Conference League with Roma, Europe’s third-tier club competition. Pérez is betting that Mourinho’s experience and forceful personality can steady Madrid while Barcelona, powered by Lamine Yamal, is again setting the pace.