Jose Mourinho agrees initial two-year contract to resurrect Real Madrid

Real Madrid are closing in on the return of Jose Mourinho.

He has agreed terms on an initial two-year contract and is now expected to complete the remaining formalities before travelling to Madrid after Benfica’s final league game.

The move has been building momentum for several weeks, with Madrid president Florentino Perez making Mourinho his preferred candidate to replace Alvaro Arbeloa.

Mourinho has informed people at Benfica that he expected to leave at the end of the season, and they have quietly started considering possible successors in anticipation of his departure.

He has one year left on his contract, but it includes an escape clause that became active after the end of the domestic season, allowing him to leave if another club triggers it within 10 days.

The 63-year-old had recently attempted to distance himself publicly from speculation surrounding Madrid, insisting he would not hold talks until Benfica’s campaign concluded.

Mourinho’s return would represent one of the biggest stories of the summer and underline Perez’s determination to look towards familiar figures during a turbulent period at the club.

Madrid have endured a deeply disappointing campaign, finishing without a major trophy for the second consecutive season.

Dressing-room tensions, fan unrest and uncertainty around the managerial position have dominated the final months of the campaign.

Arbeloa, who replaced Xabi Alonso on an interim basis in January, is not expected to remain in the role beyond the summer after Madrid’s collapse in La Liga and the Champions League.

Perez has reportedly taken direct control of the managerial process this time around, unlike Alonso’s appointment last year, which was driven more heavily by general manager Jose Angel Sanchez.

Mourinho previously managed Madrid between 2010 and 2013, winning La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Super Cup during a highly charged spell that helped re-establish the club as a European force.

His expected return also comes 16 years after he first arrived in Madrid following Inter Milan’s Champions League triumph in 2010.

For all the chaos surrounding Madrid right now, Perez clearly believes Mourinho remains the figure capable of restoring authority, intensity and direction at a club increasingly consumed by instability.