Real Madrid’s Next Manager: Mourinho Return Confirmed, Matarazzo's Future Uncertain

Florentino Pérez is shopping for a new man on the touchline again, and the shortlist at Real Madrid is as ambitious as you would expect. Names are being weighed, profiles dissected, futures quietly reshaped behind Bernabéu doors.

One of those names, intriguingly, is Pellegrino Matarazzo.

The 48-year-old American has become a quietly admired figure in Madrid. His football at Real Sociedad – fundamental, aggressively modern, structurally clear – has caught the eye of decision-makers at the club. Within the corridors of power, his approach is seen as the kind that can carry a big club into the next tactical cycle rather than merely survive the current one.

That admiration, though, is running into a hard reality.

In the Spanish capital, the momentum is firmly behind José Mourinho. There is not just nostalgia for the man who once prowled the Bernabéu touchline; there is conviction. According to Belgian transfer specialist Sacha Tavolieri, the deal for Mourinho to return is already done, with only the formalities missing.

An official announcement could land as early as next week. The mechanism is simple enough: Mourinho has a €3 million release clause in his Benfica contract, which runs until 2027. For a club of Madrid’s scale, that figure barely qualifies as an obstacle. If Pérez wants him, the clause is a button, not a barrier.

Matarazzo, by contrast, sits in a different phase of his story.

He only arrived at Real Sociedad at the end of December 2025, stepping into a Basque side that had lost its way. The turnaround was swift. The former VfB Stuttgart and TSG Hoffenheim coach imposed order and belief, lifting the team back into the upper reaches of LaLiga and driving them all the way to Copa del Rey glory.

That cup triumph has already reshaped the club’s immediate future. Europa League football is guaranteed for next season, even though La Real currently occupy eighth place in LaLiga. For a club that had drifted, Matarazzo has delivered silverware, stability, and a clear identity in a matter of months.

No surprise, then, that his stock has risen abroad. No surprise either that Real Madrid have taken notice.

Yet every indication points in the same direction: admiration will not turn into an appointment, not now. Matarazzo’s contract at Real Sociedad also runs until 2027, and prising him away would require not just money, but a willingness on his side to walk away from a project he has only just begun to shape.

Madrid, meanwhile, appear to be opting for something else entirely: familiarity, fire, and a coach whose personality still looms large over the European game. The club that prides itself on writing epic chapters may be about to reopen an old one.

If the announcement comes next week, as suggested, the Bernabéu will brace itself for the return of “The Special One” — and Matarazzo, admired from afar, will continue building his own case from San Sebastián.