Jose Mourinho is on the brink of completing a sensational return to Real Madrid that would see him replace Alvaro Arbeloa as manager next season.
After a turbulent campaign that has seen managers sacked, players involved in dressing room bust-ups and the team once again finish without a trophy, Real president Florentino Perez has decided the 63-year-old Portuguese is the man to revive their fortunes.
Mourinho is currently manager of Benfica having signed a two-year contract last September. They have missed out on the Portuguese title, despite being unbeaten all season, with Porto crowned champions with two games still to play.
After Monday's draw with Braga, Mourinho insisted the time was not right to talk about his future.
“There's a match against Estoril [on Saturday], and from Monday onwards I'll be able to answer questions about my future as a coach and Benfica's future,” he said.
Reports suggest there is a clause in Mourinho's contract which allows him to leave for €3m up to 10 days after Benfica play their final match of the season. It paves the way for him to return to Madrid for a modest fee.
Mourinho's first spell in charge of Los Blancos was from 2010 to 2013 during which he shared an intense rivalry with then Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola.
In his opening campaign, Mourinho won the Copa del Rey after beating Barca 1-0 courtesy of a Cristiano Ronaldo goal in extra time.
But Guardiola enjoyed the upper hand overall, knocking Madrid out of the Uefa Champions League semi-finals on their way to winning the tournament. They also defended their La Liga crown, finishing four points clear of their bitter rivals.
It was a different story in 2011-12 when Mourinho's team won the title, breaking a number of La Liga records along the way, including most points (100), goals scored (121) and overall wins in a season (32).
But his final season proved a huge disappointment as Barcelona – by then coached by Tito Vilanova – secured the title after finishing 15 points clear of Mourinho's side, who also lost to Atletico Madrid in the Copa del Rey final and Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League last four.
“This year's campaign was a failure but my first two seasons were successful,” said Mourinho after the Atletico defeat, adding: “This was the worst season of my career.”
He now is set for a return to the Spanish capital and a club in turmoil. In January, Xabi Alonso's short tenure as manager came to an end in abrupt fashion after losing the Spanish Super Cup final to Barcelona, which saw him sacked and replaced by Arbeloa.
The new man's first game was a disastrous Copa del Rey exit at the hands of second-tier strugglers Albacete and he also had to deal with fan unrest directed at the likes of Vinicius Junior, Jude Bellingham and president Perez at the start of his reign.
Madrid's Champions League hopes were ended by Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals while on Sunday, Barcelona won the Clasico at Camp Nou 2-0 to clinch the La Liga title.
The build-up to that defeat saw Aurelien Tchouameni and Federico Valverde heavily fined following a dressing room row that ended with the latter going to hospital with a head injury and being ruled out of action for two weeks.
Star striker Kylian Mbappe has also found himself the target of criticism with an online petition calling for his exit reportedly attracting more than 73 million signatures.
On Tuesday, Perez called a surprise press conference where he refused to comment on the managerial position but instead made clear that rumours of his own departure were untrue.
“I am not resigning. I am calling for new elections at the club,” the 79-year-old said. “There are campaigns against the interests of Real Madrid and against me.
“The results haven’t been the best, but in sports you don’t always win. They’re taking advantage of the situation to attack me personally.
“They say, ‘Where’s Florentino?’ I don’t usually speak out. Some have even told me I have terminal cancer.
“I want to take this opportunity to let those who have been concerned about me know that I’m still president of Real Madrid and my company, and that my health is perfect.”
