Jose Mourinho has agreed a deal to return to Real Madrid as manager, and his first move could be to prevent another former club, Manchester United, from signing one of their key players.
The 63-year-old Portuguese is set to succeed Alvaro Arbeloa, who took over from new Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso in January and led the club to second place in La Liga, although they are 11 points behind champions Barcelona with one game remaining.
Mourinho spent three years in charge at the Santiago Bernabéu from 2010 to 2013, winning the league title (his team won their first title with 100 points) and the Copa del Rey.
His imminent return follows weeks of speculation that he is the man president Florentino Pérez wanted to take the club forward, challenging Barça, who have won back-to-back league titles and three of the past four, and are looking to return to Champions League status after being eliminated by Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals this season.
Perez has come under increasing pressure in recent weeks after two trophyless seasons and faced protests during last Thursday night’s 2-0 league win over Oviedo at the Bernabéu.
Mourinho took over as Benfica manager on a two-year deal in September last year and has since guided the Portuguese club to third place in the Primeira Liga, behind Porto and Sporting Lisbon, during which time they remain unbeaten.
However, it is understood that Mourinho’s contract includes a modest release clause, allowing Real to let him go free relatively cheaply.
Mourinho, who has been touted many times as the future Portugal manager, remains one of the beasts in world football.
He began learning the trade under Sir Bobby Robson, initially serving as an interpreter for the English player who was in charge at Sporting and Porto, before moving to Barça to work as his assistant.
After starting his managerial career in Portugal and leading Porto to two Primeira Liga successes and Champions League glory in 2004, Mourinho moved to Chelsea and has since managed Inter Milan, Real, United, Tottenham, Roma, Fenerbahce and Benfica.
He won European honors again with Inter, winning English, Spanish and Italian league titles among an impressive array of domestic and continental trophies.
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United want to sign “one of the best players in the world” this summer.
Mourinho’s first move is very likely to be a blow to the Red Devils, with Football Insider revealing he is likely to block the Premier League club’s interest in Federico Valverde.
Mourinho keen to stop Manchester United signing Valverde
In fact, the former Red Devils manager is desperate to keep the Whites’ key players and sees Valverde as one of them.
“If he is allowed to leave Real Madrid this summer, most of the big clubs in Europe will be interested,” O’Rourke told the publication.
“Obviously, Jose Mourinho will also be returning to the Bernabéu. If he wants Valverde to stay, he will play a big role in Valverde’s future.”
“It’s no surprise that Manchester United are thought to be interested in Valverde.
“Valverde has always shown that he wants to stay at Madrid and considers it his dream club. Let’s see what Jose Mourinho is planning.”
“Mourinho is expected to be trying to keep Valverde and all of Real Madrid’s other stars, so it could be very difficult to get a deal done.”
According to Capology, the Uruguay international, who earns £278,000 a week, was also involved in a row with another high-profile United target, Aurélien Tchoameny, which resulted in both players being fined €500,000 by Real Madrid.
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His new club agreed to a huge release clause.
Valverde, who can play in virtually any position on the pitch, has nine goals and 12 assists in all competitions this season and was praised by Casemiro as “incredible” when the pair were together in the Spanish capital.
