Mourinho lays foundations as Real Madrid tipped to axe Zidane

Jose Mourinho is “awaiting the call to make a triumphant return to Real Madrid,” according to The Sun.

And if Real Madrid’s current form is anything to go by it could come sooner rather than later.

Zinedine Zidane’s season has got off to poor start and Wednesday’s humiliating 3-0 Champions League defeat at PSG, which did not produce a shot on target for the Spanish side, has left the Frenchman under increasing pressure.

LaLiga draws with Valladolid and Villarreal have left Los Blancos off the pace in the league and after just six months back at the helm Zidane is in hot water.

Real president Florentino Perez has always claimed he regrets the decision to let Mourinho go in 2013, but according to the report “the Real chief has retained relationships with Mourinho and his entourage and is believed to feel the Portuguese is the only man who can get the club back on an even keel”.

Mourinho is believed to have been a contender to replace Santiago Solari last season in the aftermath of the Champions League defeat to Ajax.

Perez instead went for  Zidane – who won the Champions League in all three campaigns he led between 2016 and 2018, but who has had a summer in which he failed to offload Gareth Bale and failed to get Paul Pogba on board.

Mourinho meanwhile, who claimed he was missing management in the summer, has already started his charm offensive aimed at Real.

He recently told Portuguese TV: “Real Madrid was my best experience because of what I learned as a coach, as a man, from the lessons I took in my career and in my life.

“It’s the best memory of my career, it was fantastic.”

L’Equipe claimed serie A giants Roma offered Mourinho a three-year deal in the hopes of making him their next boss in the summer.

Mourinho has been out of work since he was sacked by Manchester United last December and has been doing punditry work since.