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Real Madrid appointed Jose Mourinho as their coach on Thursday on a three-year deal, with the Portuguese veteran making a sensational return to the Spanish capital after 13 years away.
The 63-year-old replaces Alvaro Arbeloa after Madrid finished a second consecutive season without a major trophy, falling behind domestic rivals Barcelona.
“(Real Madrid have) agreed to appoint Jose Mourinho as the first team’s head coach for the next three seasons, until June 30, 2029,” said the 15-time European champions in a statement.
“Jose Mourinho will join Real Madrid on July 13th, the day preseason begins.”
One of football’s most successful yet divisive managers, Mourinho arrives from Benfica, where the Lisbon club completed an unbeaten league campaign but finished third. Benfica said on Wednesday that Real Madrid were paying 15 million euros for the Portuguese coach.
Mourinho managed Madrid between 2010 and 2013, winning LaLiga, the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup during an intense period of rivalry with Pep Guardiola’s golden era Barcelona side.
Real Madrid became the first club to reach 100 points in a LaLiga season under Mourinho in the 2011/12 campaign, although Barcelona did the same in the subsequent season before Mourinho departed.
Mourinho divided the Real Madrid dressing room, with some players – including predecessor Arbeloa – fiercely loyal to him, while others were at loggerheads with the coach.
Known to rule with an iron fist, Mourinho is charged with bringing Real Madrid’s dressing room egos in check, after multiple conflicts and problems marked a troubled season. Madrid midfielder Fede Valverde was treated in hospital after a row with team-mate Aurelien Tchouameni in May, among other flashpoints.
Coaches Carlo Ancelotti, Xabi Alonso and Arbeloa also could not find a way to successfully deploy star players Vinicius Junior, Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham together without destabilising the balance of the team.
In an appearance on Spanish television earlier in May, Madrid president Florentino Perez credited Mourinho with laying the groundwork for Real Madrid’s last six Champions League titles, achieved in the years after the Portuguese departed.
The chief said he would bring back Mourinho if he were reelected president earlier in June, which he was.
