Real Madrid has begun talks with former manager José Mourinho regarding a potential return to the club..

The Athletic's resident renowned English transfer journalist David Ornstein, exclusively reported on Saturday that Real Madrid has begun talks with former manager José Mourinho regarding a potential return to the club.

According to Ornstein, Mourinho has entrusted his agent, Jorge Mendes, to negotiate with Real Madrid on his behalf. While no agreement has been reached, and Mourinho is sasified with his current job at Benfica, he has publicly expressed his willingness to return to the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu.

Currently, Real Madrid has not reached an agreement with the Portuguese Primeira Liga giants regarding his release clause yet. If Los Blancos truly want to appoint the former Chelsea legend, they will have to pay As Águias a €3 million release clause.

Although Mourinho's contract with Benfica expires in the summer of 2027, it includes a clause allowing any club interested in hiring him to freely approach him after triggering his €3 million release clause before June 1st.

Ornstein also stated that, according to inside sources, the situation for interim manager Álvaro Arbeloa is very dire, with the probability of him being sacked at the end of the season exceeding 95%.

Real Madrid's management were already unhappy with his potential trophyless season, and his indecisiveness, which allowed player discord to escalate, culminating in the recent brawl between Antonio Rüdiger, Álvaro Carreras, Federico Valverde, and Aurélien Tchouaméni, has further fueled doubts about his man management abilities.

Even worse, Kylian Mbappé's alleged poor attitude and clique-building scandals have made Arbeloa's situation even more precarious.

Ornstein added that despite numerous top coaches such as Massimiliano Allegri, Didier Deschamps, Mauricio Pochettino, and Jürgen Klopp haven been linked with the Real Madrid job, Mourinho remains the most likely candidate to become the Los Blancos's next manager.

He further stated that, just as several authoritative transfer journalists have previously reported, only after Klopp publicly expressed his readiness to return to coaching will President Florentino Perez be willing to approach the former Liverpool legend, who is currently working behind the scenes at Red Bull and seems perfectly content.

Image source: Internet / The Athletic