Jose Mourinho approached over a return to Real Madrid

Suffering an embarrassing 4-1 defeat against Ajax on Tuesday night and crashing out of the Champions League, the once feared Real Madrid have the air of a club in crisis.

Now crashing out of Europe, the Copa del Rey and watching their La Liga dreams crushed in the space of a week, Los Blancos could be looking to turn to one of their former bosses to help steer the ship.

Speaking after their worrying display in midweek, former Madrid president Ramon Calderon has revealed that Jose Mourinho is their #1 option to takeover in the Spanish capital and the 67-year-old revealed Mourinho has been approached over the position.

Is Jose Mourinho the man for Real Madrid? 🧐 pic.twitter.com/ITByk48Bgx

— GOAL (@goal) March 6, 2019

 

Jose Mourinho on his way back to Real Madrid?

Despite winning the Champions League over the past three consecutive seasons, Real Madrid are enduring their worst campaign in recent memory and are drastically struggling in the post-Cristiano Ronaldo era.

Now losing their last four matches in the Spanish capital, including back-to-back El Clasico defeats, manager Santiago Solari finds his position at Madrid becoming more untenable by the week.

Sat 12 points adrift of Barcelona and five points behind bitter-rivals Atletico Madrid, it is widely suggested that current club president Florentino Perez is looking to find a successor for Solari and someone who can mount a genuine title push next season.

With Madrid’s problems only epitomized by their 4-1 hammering on Tuesday, speculation surrounding a potential return to Spain for the former Manchester United boss has intensified.

Although Mourinho’s tenure in Spain may have been highlighted by a string of public issues with the likes of Sergio Ramos and Iker Casillas, he is still held in high regard by Perez.

The 56-year-old helped Madrid pick up the La Liga and the Copa del Rey title during his three-year stay.

Admitting last week that he was “flattered” to be linked with a move back to Los Blancos, disgruntled fans around the Bernabeu could be heard chanting his name at the full-time whistle.

Openly stating that he is ready to make a return to the managerial hot-seat, the Portuguese tactician has received a very public backing from Calderon.

Speaking to Sky Sports on Wednesday, Calderon said:

“I have no doubt Mourinho is the first option for the president. He’s been called in the last weeks.

“It was when Zinedine Zidane left, Mourinho was with Manchester United and he said it was not the right moment to come back, but maybe now he’s free.

“I think there will be many chances he will be on that bench next season.”

Asked about other potential candidates, he added: “Maybe Mauricio Pochettino, they are talking about him. But there will be many in the next days because fans can’t accept this situation.

“There’s been three or four months moaning now, lamenting and regretting what we did planning this team.”

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