Jose Mourinho has signed a three-year contract with Real Madrid and will be appointed as their new coach following the club’s presidential elections, according to a report from The Athletic.

Club president Florentino Perez triggered elections on May 12 and is being challenged by Enrique Riquelme.

Mourinho is not the preferred candidate of Riquelme to replace Alvaro Arbeloa. However, Perez is widely expected to triumph in the elections, which will be held on June 7.

Perez said this week that he had two candidates in mind for the position and had not spoken to Mourinho.

But The Athletic’s David Ornstein and Mario Cortegana reported on Friday that the Benfica boss had put pen to paper on a contract running until June 2029.

Mourinho had been offered an extension by Benfica after guiding them to an unbeaten league season, though they did not win the Primeira Liga.

Instead of remaining at Estadio da Luz, he is seemingly set to return to Santiago Bernabeu, having previously coached Madrid from 2010 to 2013, winning the LaLiga title in 2011-12 ahead of Pep Guardiola’s legendary Barcelona side.

When his appointment is confirmed, Mourinho will inherit a Madrid side that endured a trophy-less 2025-26 campaign, with the final weeks of the season beset by infighting.

Having ended the LaLiga season eight points adrift of Barca and lost to Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, Mourinho has a long list of tasks as he aims to return Madrid to seriously challenging domestically and in the competition the club covets most.