After sacking Xabi Alonso in January, Real Madrid will be on the lookout for a new permanent head coach in the summer.
Alonso was replaced at the Santiago Bernabeu by his former Liverpoool teammate Alvaro Arbeloa, who made the step up from the Los Blancos reserve team, also known as Real Madrid Castilla.
Arbeloa was placed in interim charge, with the expectation that the Real Madrid hierarchy will bring in someone else to take the reins on a permanent basis this summer.
Florentino Perez Wields All The Power At The Bernabeu
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez poses for pictures.
Laureus World Sports Awards - Palacio de Cibeles, Madrid, Spain - April 21, 2025 Real Madrid president Florentino Perez arrives ahead of the awards ceremony REUTERS/Juan Medina
Real are likely to go without silverware for the first time in five years, with Los Blancos sitting 14 points behind La Liga leaders Barcelona with only five game left to play.
All eyes will be on president Florentino Perez and what happens behind the scenes as they look to bring in a new head coach this summer, someone to get them back on track after a difficult campaign.
Jose Mourinho appears to be the frontrunner, with Perez himself instigating the move to bring the Benfica coach back to the Bernabeu. But a number of other names have also been linked with Jurgn Klopp among them.
Klopp stepped down from his role as Liverpool boss at the end of the 2023/24 season, citing that he was "running out of energy" and has been out of management since.
He since signed a deal to be Red Bull's head of global football in January 2025, penning a four-year contract. Could he be tempted to make the move back into the dugout for Real Madrid?
GIVEMESPORT's senior football correspondent Ben Jacobs said: "Perez wants Mourinho, and if he gets his way, there is a concrete chance, therefore, that this move happens.
"There have been other candidates discussed. Klopp has had longstanding admiration from the Real hierarchy, but has consistently, when asked, said that he doesn't even know if he's going to take a club job again, and he's quite happy at Red Bull - it gives him a better work-life balance.
Florentino Perez Already Knows Who He Wants At Real Madrid
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"People forget that managers are human, and one of the motivating factors behind Klopp leaving Liverpool was not just moving on from the project at the right time, but feeling exhausted by the pressures of club management and there's no bigger job in world football than Real Madrid, so Klopp might even take some convincing.
"But he's behind Mourinho in the pecking order, at least as far as Perez is concerned, and Mauricio Pochettino has been linked with Real Madrid as well, and he's a free agent as it stands after the World Cup with the US national team.
"My information there is that there are genuine links and Pochettino has been discussed internally at Real Madrid and would have some supporters.
"But again, Perez has made his number one choice clear, and as it stands, that's Jose Mourinho."
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