Real Madrid has officially announced the return of José Mourinho as the club’s head coach, following the departure of Álvaro Arbeloa.
The club shared the news in a statement on Thursday, confirming that Mourinho has signed a three-year deal at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.
The 63-year-old manager returns to Madrid after a season with Benfica, which revealed on Wednesday that Madrid had agreed to pay the €15 million release clause to terminate his contract in Portugal.
Madrid president Florentino Pérez had promised during his reelection campaign to bring back Mourinho, who previously managed the team until 2013.
Pérez also committed to signing Ibrahima Konaté and Denzel Dumfries, and pledged to make a €150 million offer for a ‘galáctico‘ signing.
To fulfill this promise, Madrid announced earlier this week that they had submitted a €150 million bid for Atlético Madrid striker Julián Álvarez, which was ultimately rejected.
Mourinho’s task upon returning to Madrid will be to restore the team’s success after they experienced two consecutive seasons without a trophy under Carlo Ancelotti, Xabi Alonso, and Arbeloa.
Since leaving Madrid, he has taken charge of Chelsea, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, as well as Roma, Fenerbahçe, and Benfica.
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It has been four years since he last lifted a trophy, which was the Conference League with Roma, and over ten years since he secured his last league title, the Premier League with Chelsea in 2015.
While at Benfica, he maintained an unbeaten record in the Portuguese league last season, but this only resulted in a third-place standing behind Porto and Sporting.
Mourinho’s Benfica was also eliminated by Madrid in the Champions League knockout round playoffs.