Published On 2/6/2026
Real Madrid’s presidential elections not only delayed Jose Mourinho’s return to coaching the first team; Rather, it will cost the club’s treasury more money than expected.
The British network “The Athletic” reported that Mourinho’s return to Real Madrid is now 99.9% certain, but the official signing has been postponed for a few weeks, which will have financial consequences for the club.
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The cost of contracting with Mourinho
She explained that Mourinho’s contract with Benfica included a penalty clause of 6 million euros (about 6.5 million US dollars), which expired in the ten days following the end of the 2025-2026 season of the Portuguese League.
This clause expired on May 29, so the value of the penalty clause has now risen to 15 million euros (about 16.2 million US dollars).
Although negotiations between Real Madrid and Benfica are still possible, the Portuguese club is not now ready to make this “type of concessions,” as the newspaper put it.
Real Madrid must now wait at least until June 7, the date of the presidential elections in which 100,000 members of the Royal Club were invited to vote.
Despite the sudden entry of candidate Enrique Riquelme just one day before the nominations close, Florentino Perez is considered the most likely candidate to win the elections, and he may make signing with Mourinho one of his winning cards in the final days of his electoral campaign, according to what the French network RMC Sport believes.
Had it not been for this “daring” candidacy, Perez would have been automatically re-elected, and he could have announced Mourinho’s arrival on May 25.
Mourinho deals
Despite this unexpected delay, Mourinho has a very precise idea about the positions he wants to strengthen this summer, which are an alternative player in the right-back position, a new left-back to compete with Alvaro Carreras, a heavy and experienced centre-back, and an innovative midfielder (playmaker).
Perez said during an interview with the Spanish public broadcaster RTVE that Mourinho is a good coach, and when asked if he would sign a contract with him, he replied: “I will not announce that because I have not spoken to him yet.”
Perez, who has been president of Real Madrid since 2009 after a first term between 2000 and 2006, called on May 12 for early elections during a press conference, at the end of a second consecutive season without major titles, punctuated by many crises.
