In a sensational turn of events surrounding Real Madrid in recent weeks, Jose Mourinho will be returning to the club as head coach for the first time in 13 years, signing a deal that will keep him tied to the Los Blancos until June 2029.
The move is a high-stakes, calculated gamble driven entirely by President Fiorentino Perez, who incidentally dared his political rivals to challenge him for the top seat on June 7.
By securing Mourinho just over a week until the vote, the incumbent boss has dropped a nuclear weapon on the campaign trail, effectively Enrique Riquelme, his chief challenger.
Madrid have completed a second consecutive season without winning a major trophy, and parted ways with Xabi Alonso and Alvaro Arbeloa this year.
They have sought to bring back a manager who left the club under very toxic circumstances in 2013. But why exactly did Perez choose to bring him back?
Striver.Football analyses five reasons why Mourinho has returned to the Spanish capital, and whether he is the man to reclaim Madrid’s lost glories.
5. An Electoral Masterstroke Against Enrique Riquelme
In politics, timing is everything. Perez has effectively chosen to build an impenetrable wall around his presidency by appointing Mourinho.
His 37-year-old challenger, Enrique Riquelme, recently went on record on Marca and The Athletic stating that Mourinho would absolutely *not* be his choice for the dugout, preferring instead to float romanticised, abstract ideas about another manager, namely Jurgen Klopp.
By finalising Mourinho’s terms a week before the election, Perez has completely trapped Riquelme.
A vote for Riquelme is now a vote to tear up Mourinho’s newly signed contract before he even sets foot back in the Bernabeu. For the vast majority of the 100,000 members, that would represent total institutional instability.
This would effectively be making a bad situation worse, and will corner these members into retaining Perez as President.
4. Mourinho’s History Taming Big Egos
The current Real Madrid dressing room is heavily fractured. Kylian Mbappe hit out at Arbeloa over being the apparent “fourth choice” striker at the club, to headline the side’s lack of discipline ever since Xabi Alonso’s departure.
Fede Velverde and Aurelien Tchouameni were both involved in two altercations that resulted in both players being fined €500,000, which further underpins the level of toxicity surrounding the dressing room.
After Jose Angel Sanchez’s failed Xabi Alonso experiment, Perez took matters into his own hands and the need for the club’s superstar dressing room to have a no-nonsense veteran in charge, which explains the Mourinho appointment.
The Portuguese did a decent job taming the egos of the likes of Sergio Ramos, Pepe, Cristiano Ronaldo and other superstars during his first stint, and will be expected to bring that experience back to steady the ship.
3. Why Perez Needs Mourinho’s Siege Mentality
Perez has had it rough over the last couple of years. He remains in a high political battle with UEFA over the failed attempts to launch a break-away European Super League back in 2021.
In February, the club was involved in a chaotic fallout during their Champions League ties against Benfica, which included a nasty alleged racial abuse involving Gianluca Prestianni and star player Vinicius Junior.
Mourinho is the kind of general Perez will want to help him fight back these wars. The Portuguese tactician is a master at creating a "us vs. the world" siege mentality.
For a presidency that thrives on institutional defiance, Mourinho is the perfect ideological lightning rod.
2. Real Madrid Cannot Afford Another Trophyless Season
Los Blancos are an institution that simply cannot tolerate a third consecutive barren season. Promoted reserve coach Alvaro Arbeloa stabilised the ship temporarily, but his departure highlighted a glaring vacuum at the top.
While other candidates like Mauricio Pochettino, Massimiliano Allegri, and Didier Deschamps were discussed internally, none offered the ironclad guarantee of immediate silverware that Mourinho possesses.
During his first stint between 2010 and 2013, Mourinho shattered Pep Guardiola's Barcelona hegemony, lifting a record-breaking 100-point La Liga title. Perez is betting the farm that Mourinho can replicate that short-term explosive bounce. After all, it worked with Carlo Ancelotti when he returned for a second stint in 2021 from Everton, having been sacked in 2015.
1. Absolute Alignment on Power Dynamics
In his later years, Perez has grown notoriously wary of managers who demand total control over the club's broader transfer market philosophy.
The Athletic reports that work has already begun behind the scenes on the makeup of his backroom staff and summer recruitment targets, entirely coordinated with Perez’s executive vision.
Perez gets a fiercely loyal ally on the bench who will gladly take all the media flak while the president retains total structural control.
Will Perez Retain the Presidency at Madrid?
Barring an unprecedented miracle on June 7, Fiorentino Perez will be expected to retain his seat as Madrid President.
The move to appoint Jose Mourinho is viewed as a weaponising move to effectively retain his seat before a single ballot is cast, which might pigeonhole Riquelme further.
It may well blow up in spectacular, acrimonious fashion by 2029 just as it did in 2013 but for now, Florentino Perez might have secured both his and the club’s short-term future.
