Real Madrid confirm Mourinho's return as head coach on three-year contract
Madrid, June 12
Real Madrid has confirmed Jose Mourinho on Thursday as its new first team coach with the Portuguese returning 13 years after his last spell at the club.
"The Board of Directors of Real Madrid C.F., meeting today, Thursday, June 11, and presided over by Florentino Pérez, has agreed to appoint José Mourinho as the first team's head coach for the next three seasons, until June 30, 2029. Jose Mourinho will join Real Madrid on July 13, the day preseason begins," Real Madrid said in a statement.
The 63-year-old leaves Benfica with Real Madrid paying the Portuguese club a 15 million euro compensation fee (17.3 million US dollars) and has signed a three-year contract until the end of June 2029, reports Xinhua.
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez had said Mourinho would be Real Madrid coach if he won last Sunday's election for the club presidency against businessman Enrique Riquelme, in which he claimed with 65 percent of the vote.
The veteran manager has joined Madrid from Benfica, where the Lisbon club completed an unbeaten run, but finished third. During the only season of what was his second stint at Benfica, Mourinho led the two-time European Cup winners to an unbeaten Liga Portugal campaign, though it was only enough to secure a third-place finish.
Earlier this week, Benfica agreed a deal to appoint former Fulham manager Marco Silva as Mourinho's replacement.
Mourinho's previous three years at Real Madrid saw the club win one La Liga title, one Copa del Rey and one Spanish Super Cup during a period where the club was slightly overshadowed by Pep Guardiola's FC Barcelona. The period was also marked by increasingly difficult relations between the two clubs and their respective players, widely considered a factor in Spain's early exit from the 2014 World Cup.
During his election campaign, Perez also promised that the club would sign French international defender Ibrahima Konate, who leaves Liverpool on a free transfer, Inter Milan's Dutch international Denzel Dumfries as well as a 150 million euro signing, which saw Atletico Madrid on Tuesday reject a bid of that amount for striker Julian Alvarez.
Mourinho will start working with the Real Madrid squad on Saturday.
— IANS
Reader Comments
As a long-time Real fan, this feels like a gamble. Mourinho is a proven winner but his style can be divisive. I'm cautiously optimistic. The promise of signing Konate, Dumfries, and Alvarez is huge though. Perez knows how to make a splash.
Unbeaten season but only third place? That's a wild stat. Shows how competitive Portugal has become. I hope this isn't a backward step for Madrid. They need a long-term project, not another short-term fix. 🤔
Mourinho vs Guardiola again? The rivalry is back! 😂 Though this time it's probably not as intense. I just hope the Spanish league doesn't become a toxic battleground again. Football is better when it's about the game, not the drama.
I have mixed feelings. Mourinho is a legend but his recent stints at United, Roma haven't been great. Is he still the 'Special One' or has football passed him by? Perez is banking on his past success. Hope it works.
The 150 million euro bid for Alvarez is mind-blowing. Football economics have gone insane. But if anyone can pull off these transfers, it's Perez. Let's see if Mourinho can actually improve the team or if this is just a PR move.
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