Why Mourinho could be Real's 'ultimate wildcard'

Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Jose Mourinho's Benfica sit second in Liga Portugal

Arbeloa took over after Xabi Alonso departed in January, but has performed worse than his predecessor, particularly in La Liga.

Alonso left the Bernabeu with an impressive win ratio of 74%. Arbeloa has managed five games fewer than Alonso did in the league but has already lost more with his win percentage down at 64%.

A shock defeat by second-tier side Albacete in the Copa del Rey has not helped Arbeloa's case either - although it was just two days after he took charge.

One of the names being mentioned as a potential replacement, if Arbeloa is sacked, is Real's former boss Jose Mourinho, who is currently manager of Benfica in Portugal.

The Portuguese was in charge at the Bernabeu between 2010 and 2013, winning La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup.

Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Mourinho's Real won 100 points in 2011-12 , the joint-highest tally ever in the Spanish top flight

Real do not have a manager for next season.

Arbeloa has got a year left in his contract but it is clear that chairman Perez is looking elsewhere for a new boss.

Even though Perez appreciates the positives of Arbeloa's tenure, results dictate decisions at the Bernabeu.

But to understand who they will hire, you first need to understand how Perez thinks.

Perez does not care about style of play. He does not lose sleep over tactical identity or whether his team presses high or sits deep. What he cares about is winning, and more than that, managing.

Managing egos, stars, the dressing room.

For Perez, the ideal manager is a conductor.

There is a recurring tension at the Bernabeu between two schools of thought. On one side, the number two at the club Jose Angel Sanchez argues that Real need an organiser, a tactically rigorous coach who can impose order on a talented but chaotic squad.

That line of thinking has produced appointments such as Rafa Benitez, Julen Lopetegui and, most recently, Alonso. None of them lasted more than a few months. The president was never truly behind them, and when results gave him the excuse, they were gone.

On the other side sits Perez's own preference: the grand manager, the aristocrat of the touchline, someone whose presence alone commands respect in the dressing room. Think Zinedine Zidane. Think Carlo Ancelotti, twice. That is the template Perez returns to when his patience runs out.

With Alonso gone, the president's line has won again. And the names being considered reflect exactly that.

Now to the name that has been generating headlines - Jose Mourinho.

People inside the club suggest he is not necessarily the only name on the list. The Mourinho option is driven principally by Perez himself… and by the Portuguese manager.

Perez likes to throw ideas out there and see what reaction they get.

Mourinho is under contract with Benfica until 2027 but can come out of it, and whatever he says publicly, my understanding is that he is desperate to return to the Bernabeu.

His behaviour during the Gianluca Prestianni affair in the Benfica-Real Madrid Champions League encounter did not lose him fans at the Bernabeu, including the president.

It is the ultimate wildcard - the president reaching for a name he knows, a figure who can dominate a dressing room, a manager whose second spell in Madrid would be already a statement.

However, sources inside the camp say, it would only happen if the other options fall through.

Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Mauricio Pochettino and Massimiliano Allegri are both thought to be under consideration

Mauricio Pochettino is very much in the conversation, though with one asterisk: he is committed to the United States national team for the World Cup.

How about if it does not work out in the tournament? Or if he goes far with the national team and cannot start till July when the pre-season has started?

But the Argentine has a warm relationship with key figures at the club, and he has been in the frame before.

He is very much liked, they know in detail what he did with Spurs, Paris St-Germain and Chelsea, with different squads and profiles of players and owners, and Pochettino has dreamt of that job for a long time. Inside the camp, they think he is extremely well placed.

Another name that fits that idea is Didier Deschamps. His contract with France runs until the World Cup, and after that he will be available. But again the summer tournament makes the timing slightly wrong.

Deschamps manages a large squad of big personalities with calm authority.

He has no interest in imposing a grand footballing philosophy, and - with Mbappe and a generation of French players at the club - there is a natural connection.

AC Milan manager Massimiliano Allegri is another option being seriously considered. He is cast in the Ancelotti mould - Italian football aristocracy, experienced with star players, not one for pressing theories on football.

Real, or to be precise Perez, have been interested before and his name keeps coming up internally. People that know Serie A well have mentioned that 40-year-old Croatia midfielder Luka Modric, who left the Bernabeu to join Milan last summer, could come back with him.

Both have denied they are interested in the possibility but others point out that the idea has been discussed at the Bernabeu.

Former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has also been mentioned, and his name carries weight. But there are reservations as he is interventionist by nature - he demands a specific way of playing, he reshapes clubs in his own image.

That is precisely what Real, under Perez, do not want. For now at least, Klopp feels like a name that generates excitement outside the club more than inside it.

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