At 63, his task is to rebuild a team that has gone two seasons without a major trophy. That is a big deal at Madrid \u2014 and it contributed to president Florentino Perez\u2019s decision to hold a presidential election in June.<\/p>\n
In May, The Athletic exclusively reported that Mourinho was Perez\u2019s choice to replace Alvaro Arbeloa as manager<\/a> at the end of 2025-26. He signed his contract later that month and was officially announced on June 11, once Perez had been re-elected with 65 per cent of the vote.<\/p>\n But despite the intrigue and expectation over Mourinho\u2019s return, we have hardly seen or heard from him at all, compared to how Madrid usually manage their new appointments.<\/p>\n There has been no press conference or presentation event to unveil the Portuguese manager \u2014 a Real Madrid tradition that dates back more than 50 years.<\/p>\n Nor has he appeared for media duties after Madrid\u2019s pre-season friendlies, the last of which came on Sunday with a 3-0 win at Schalke<\/a>. Instead, fans have only seen short clips of Mourinho\u2019s impressions via the club\u2019s in-house media channels.<\/p>\n On Monday, Madrid also released a series of promotional videos showing Mourinho posing with Perez, meeting 81-year-old honorary president Jose Martinez Pirri and signing some papers, which seemed a little redundant given he has been working at the club\u2019s training ground since pre-season began on July 10.<\/p>\n And on Tuesday night, an interview with Mourinho was broadcast on El Chiringuito de Jugones on the Spanish TV station Energy.<\/p>\n What Mourinho said on Vinicius Jr, racism and Rodri<\/p>\n The interview was conducted by Spanish TV personality Josep Pedrerol. During Madrid\u2019s presidential election in June, Perez also chose his programme for one of the two TV interviews of his campaign. The 79-year-old preferred that strategy over a debate with his rival, 37-year-old renewable energy entrepreneur Enrique Riquelme<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mourinho said that he has \u201cchanged a lot\u201d since his first time in charge at Madrid 13 years ago. He said he was now \u201cmore mature, less emotional, more controlled\u201d but insisted he was \u201cnot more boring\u201d.<\/p>\n Although this was never likely to be a media appearance in which he would be challenged, Mourinho was asked about his comments on Vinicius Junior back in February. Those came when Madrid\u2019s Champions League match at Benfica (then managed by Mourinho) was stopped after the Brazilian alleged opposition winger Gianluca Prestianni racially abused him.<\/p>\n Prestianni denied the allegation and was subsequently banned by UEFA and FIFA after admitting to using a homophobic (rather than racist) slur<\/a> against the Madrid forward.<\/p>\n On the night, Mourinho suggested Vinicius Jr had incited the incident. In comments made to Amazon Prime, he appeared to blame him for provoking the regular racist abuse he has suffered in recent years<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n Mourinho speaking with Vinicius Jr during Madrid and Benfica\u2019s Champions League match in February (Angel Martinez\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n What Mourinho said did not go down well with Vinicius Jr, sources close to the player said at the time (speaking anonymously as they did not have permission to comment, like all those cited here). Those same sources later said he had no problem with Mourinho being appointed at Madrid. This month, the 26-year-old forward extended his contract,<\/a> despite strong interest from Arsenal.<\/p>\n Mourinho was asked for his view on what happened in the Benfica game.<\/p>\n \u201cThe answer is very simple,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cPrestianni was my player. That\u2019s it, there\u2019s no discussion. If Prestianni is my player\u2026 20 players can come, I\u2019m with Prestianni, there\u2019s nothing more to it. Vini knows that now, he knows which side I\u2019m on and he knows that he can look at me and count on me to stand by him.<\/p>\n \ud83d\ude2f MOURINHO, sobre QU\u00c9 LE DIJO a VINICIUS:<\/p>\n \ud83d\udde3\ufe0f\u201dNO TE VAYAS: s\u00f3lo conoces el Madrid cuando te vas\u2019.<\/p>\n \u00a1Sus palabras en exclusiva con @jpedrerol<\/a>, ahora en Energy! pic.twitter.com\/svxCXbh1ba<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 El Chiringuito TV (@elchiringuitotv) August 19, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe other day, when they didn\u2019t give him a clear penalty (in the friendly against Schalke), I was already in the middle of the pitch fighting for him. He knows I\u2019m going to be with him.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople need to learn how to behave towards him, and I\u2019m also talking about referees. You can\u2019t blow for a penalty because it\u2019s Pedrerol (the interviewer), and not give a penalty because it\u2019s Vinicius.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve also touched a little on the issue of stadiums. It\u2019s one thing to celebrate with your team-mates and another to celebrate in front of opposition fans. You can find a bit of balance there.\u201d<\/p>\n Mourinho will face questions from the press on Friday, in his first pre-match news conference of the new La Liga season \u2014 before Madrid travel to Espanyol on Saturday. It remains to be seen whether he is pressed further on this topic.<\/p>\n On Wednesday, sources close to Vinicius Jr told\u00a0The Athletic he and Mourinho had different views on the matter, but insisted their relationship was good following talks since the manager\u2019s arrival.<\/p>\n \n Madrid have made six summer signings as they look to rebuild under Mourinho (Christof Koepsel\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n Mourinho was also asked about Rodri\u2019s signing for Barcelona on Tuesday<\/a>. Madrid had also approached him but the 30-year-old Spain captain preferred a move to the Camp Nou.<\/p>\n The Madrid coach said he spoke to the midfielder \u201ca couple of times\u201d and that in those conversations it became clear that Rodri \u201chad doubts\u201d about joining.<\/p>\n \u201cRodri\u2019s doubts created doubts in me,\u201d Mourinho said. \u201cHe is an extraordinary player and was very correct with us, but Madrid is a club of such a dimension that you can\u2019t think twice.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not saying there won\u2019t be more signings because the market is open, but as far as I\u2019m concerned, it\u2019s closed. I really like the squad. I don\u2019t miss Rodri.\u201d<\/p>\n Why has Mourinho\u2019s return been so low-key?<\/p>\n Mourinho\u2019s appointment was made official the day before the World Cup started. After starting work for pre-season on July 10, there was an expectation that he would be presented the following week.<\/p>\n But it was decided this would not happen following a meeting between Mourinho, Real Madrid\u2019s general manager Jose Angel Sanchez, head of scouting Juni Calafat and Mourinho\u2019s agent Jorge Mendes at the Santo Mauro Hotel in central Madrid.<\/p>\n How Jose Mourinho returned to Real Madrid<\/p>\n Tifo Football and Mario Cortegana<\/p>\n Sources familiar with the situation said the fact Madrid were so active in the transfer market, and as the World Cup final was still to come, were factors in their thinking.<\/p>\n Instead, a cultivated impression of Mourinho\u2019s return has been shared via social media posts on the coach\u2019s account<\/a> and through photographs and videos released by Madrid. The club\u2019s view is that it can now communicate directly with its supporters through social media, where it has amassed almost 500million followers \u2014 more than any club in the world, according to a CIES Football Observatory study<\/a>.<\/p>\n Curiously, none of Madrid\u2019s six summer signings \u2014 Denzel Dumfries, Ibrahima Konate, Marc Cucurella, Bernardo Silva, Yan Diomande and Carlos Espi \u2014 have had presentations either. Nor has there been an event to mark Vinicius Jr\u2019s renewal.<\/p>\n Club sources again played down the significance, but it also marks a break from how these have been handled in previous years.<\/p>\n![\"Mourinho](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-2262179316-2.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Jose](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-2290721276-scaled.jpg\")
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