He was a special person. He was a happy person. Now it looks like Jose Mourinho is the chosen one. He chose to return to Real Madrid 13 years after leaving.
For weeks now, the Benfica manager has done his best to banish questions about his future.
But after ending the Portuguese league season with a 3-1 win over Estoril on Saturday night, Mourinho admitted for the first time that he could be the next Real Madrid manager.
And things can move quickly. “My future has to be decided this week,” Mourinho said at a press conference. “I need time. I need space. I need time to make decisions. I think this week will be very important.”
“I have not received an offer from Real Madrid, but I cannot hide it or say there is nothing. There is something, but they are not talking to me directly.”
Jose Mourinho’s Benfica have the best of Estoril and are unbeaten in their Primeira Liga campaign.
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has not spoken to Mourinho. However, he spoke to Mourinho’s agent Jorge Mendes.
A clause in Mourinho’s two-year Benfica contract, signed just eight months ago, allows him to move for £2.6m. A small change to a club like Real Madrid. He also has other options.
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Sky Sports reporter Gary Cotterill is in Lisbon, rounding up the best from Portugal’s back pages as he reports on who could replace Jose Mourinho at Benfica. If he returns to Real Madrid.
Staying at Benfica is one thing. He was offered an improved deal. But it is highly unlikely to be accepted. There is also a long-standing offer to manage the Portuguese national team.
They want him to take responsibility after this World Cup to prepare for the next World Cup at home. The 2030 tournament will be shared between Portugal, Spain and Morocco. However, Real Madrid appears to be the most likely next destination.
Mourinho and Perez still maintain a close relationship. That’s why Mourinho calls the Real Madrid president “FP” in private.
“We have maintained a close relationship for 13 years,” Mourinho said. “But that doesn’t mean I’ve been at the club for the last 13 years or ever will be. We’ve always been close and that doesn’t mean anything I believe in.”
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Spanish football expert Terry Gibson believes Jose Mourinho should be Real Madrid’s next manager.
Perez and Mourinho almost reunited in 2021, but the Portuguese has just committed to Roma. There is no such problem this time.
Now, 16 years after Mourinho’s first appointment, Perez is hoping his friend can repeat his first success at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Who can forget Real Madrid’s 100-point season as they won La Liga in 2011/12? At that point it had been four years without a league title. Real have failed to become Spanish champions in the past two seasons.
Mourinho’s 72% winning percentage with Real Madrid has not been bettered by anyone who has followed him, including Zinedine Zidane and Carlo Ancelotti.
The fact that Perez called the election is no obstacle. As it stands, with no opponent yet declared, he is set to be re-elected unopposed next weekend when Athletic Club’s final game against Real Madrid takes place.
Mourinho has a 72% winning rate at Real Madrid.
Few journalists here in Lisbon are expecting anything other than Mourinho’s second visit to Madrid.
“I have no doubt that he will be the next Real Madrid manager,” Nuno Luz, a veteran sports reporter for the SIC TV channel who has covered Mourinho for more than 30 years, told me.
“It is important for Mourinho to return to the center of world football. Managing Real Madrid again, especially with his past experience there, will give him the tools to succeed at a club currently fraught with internal problems.”
Mourinho will leave Benfica with an unbeaten record (the fifth team to achieve this millennium). However, there will be no Champions League matches next season. No defeat, but no medals either.
“It’s incredible,” Mourinho told me shortly after the final whistle. “It’s the first time in my career. I’ve never done it before because I’m invincible. I’ll change it to the title, there’s no doubt about it, but it’s a reflection of the spirit and unity of the team.
“It’s something that makes me proud as the leader of the group.”
There were fewer than 5,000 spectators at the Estadio Antonio Coimbra da Motta to see what Mourinho’s latest performance in charge of Benfica was all about.
The man himself was fitted for the occasion and wore boots. But only a few photographers were able to capture it. It’s a far cry from the global media circus that awaits him in the Spanish capital.
The Bernabeu awaits the chosen one. Madrid now seems inevitable.
