Jose Mourinho has agreed a three-year contract to return as head coach of Real Madrid, the club have confirmed. His official unveiling will be delayed until after the club's presidential election, scheduled for 7 June.

Mourinho, 63, arrives from Benfica, where he took over in September and guided the Lisbon club to a third-place finish in the Primeira Liga this season.

A familiar face at the Bernabéu

This is not Mourinho's first chapter at Real Madrid. Between 2010 and 2013, the Portuguese coach delivered La Liga, the Copa del Rey, and the Spanish Super Cup to the club — an era many supporters still speak of fondly.

He will take over from Alvaro Arbeloa, who only stepped into the role in January after Xabi Alonso's exit. The appointment comes at a difficult moment for Los Blancos: they ended the 2025-26 season without a single trophy, with rivals Barcelona claiming La Liga after a 2-0 El Clásico victory. Real's UEFA Champions League campaign also collapsed, ending in a 6-4 aggregate defeat to German champions Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals.

A career packed with trophies — and controversy

After his first spell at Real Madrid ended in 2013, Mourinho returned to Chelsea for a second stint in England, winning a third Premier League title and the EFL Cup in the 2014-15 season. He left Stamford Bridge by mutual consent in 2015 before joining Manchester United on a three-year deal in 2016.

At Old Trafford, Mourinho lifted the UEFA Europa League, EFL Cup, and Community Shield in his debut season, but a poor run of results saw him sacked in December 2018.

Subsequent roles at Tottenham, Roma — where he claimed the UEFA Europa Conference League title in 2022 — and Fenerbahce followed before his move to Benfica. Now, at 63, the self-styled Special One returns to the stadium where his legend was both built and battered.