Real Madrid reach ‘agreement’ to appoint Mourinho as Mbappe situation turns toxic

Jose Mourinho to Real Madrid is a ‘DONE DEAL’, according to a reporter, and the Portuguese faces an almighty headache straight off the bat in the form of Kylian Mbappe.

Real Madrid are a club in turmoil right now, with players hospitalising each other in training, a woefully underequipped manager at the helm, and Barcelona pulling their pants down in each and every El Clasico.

Accordingly, and on the back of a rare trophyless season, Real Madrid supremo, Florentino Perez, is going back to his old playbook by appointing Jose Mourinho as the club’s next manager.

The Portuguese, 63, is yesterday’s man and hasn’t won a major trophy since 2022. Underwhelming spells at Fenerbahce and Benfica have followed since lifting the Conference League with Roma, but nevertheless, Mourinho’s character and sheer force of will are what Perez believes his expensively assembled team of divas needs right now.

It’s no secret Mourinho is Perez’s chosen one and ultimately, the decision on who to appoint will be made the 79-year-old.

Direct talks have taken place and according to the latest from Sky Sports reporter, Sacha Tavolieri, Mourinho returning to the Bernabeu for a second spell is now a done deal.

Real Madrid to appoint Jose Mourinho

Taking to X, he wrote: “DONE DEAL Jose Mourinho is set to become the next manager of Real Madrid!

“The Portuguese coach has reached an agreement with the club’s management.

“An official statement from Jose Mourinho is expected next week.”

According to Spanish outlet AS and the Daily Mail, a ‘secret clause’ in Mourinho’s contract at current club Benfica means it’ll cost Real Madrid just €3m to buy him out of his deal with the Primeira Liga side.

Among Mourinho’s first tasks upon re-taking the reins will be instilling discipline in a squad full of massive egos, many of which have spiralled out of control.

DON’T MISS: Real Madrid reach ‘definite’ decision on selling Trent Alexander-Arnold after Man City ‘talks’

Chief among the offenders in that regard is Kylian Mbappe, with the Athletic’s Real Madrid expert, Mario Cortegana, shedding light on the Frenchman’s rapidly souring spell in Spain.

What’s going on with Kylian Mbappe

In truth, Mbappe is probably the best footballer playing the game right now. However, there is a curiosity with Mbappe in that he’s never won the Champions League despite spending most of his career at PSG and the last two years at Real Madrid.

For a club like Real Madrid who pride themselves on winning the Champions League over LaLiga, it’s a conundrum that thus far, doesn’t have an answer.

There are no suggestions Real will look to sell Mbappe, but per Cortegana, Mourinho certainly has his work cut out restoring order in the Spanish capital.

Explaining precisely what’s going on with Mbappe, he wrote: “Mbappe was absent from the Madrid squad that lost 2-0 at Barcelona on Sunday night, a result that wrapped up a second consecutive Liga title for their Clasico rivals.

“The 27-year-old striker instead watched the game back at home in the Spanish capital, and an Instagram Story he posted during the game caused some controversy.

“It was a simple photo of his TV screen with a caption supporting his team-mates. The fact that he posted it with Madrid already 2-0 down is what attracted some criticism. But the unfortunate reality is that nothing around Mbappe is that simple these days, such is the volume of noise that has built around him.”

Cortegana went on to note interim manager, Alvaro Arbeloa, had conducted his pr=-match preparations ahead of the latest El Clasico without Mbappe in mind after the striker continued to recover from a hamstring issue suffered on April 24.

At one point, Mbappe – who some at Real believed might be fit enough to feature against Barcelona – was asked to train with the players who were expected to be named among the substitutes. It’s then when Mbappe allegedly felt more discomfort in his hamstring and cut his session short prematurely.

The inference in the report is Mbappe quickly decided training with the subs wasn’t for him and excused himself from training.

Cortegana added: “This is what led to frustration among the training ground staff, who did not feel in control. The Athletic contacted Mbappe’s representatives for comment on this article, but they declined.

“On Sunday night, after Madrid lost 2-0, Mbappe’s Instagram post was negatively received by Madrid staff and team-mates.

“On Monday, Mbappe added another photo to his Instagram story following that shot of the TV screen — a selfie at the gym at Madrid’s training ground, on what was a day off for the rest of the first team.

“Last week, The Athletic also reported on a training-ground row between Mbappe and a member of Madrid’s coaching team in the build-up to that game at Betis on April 24, an incident sources said had contributed to a growing bad atmosphere at the club.

“In response to questions about that incident, and wider criticism of the player, Mbappe’s camp replied with the following statement: ‘A portion of the criticism is based on an over-interpretation of elements related to a recovery period strictly supervised by the club, and does not reflect the reality of Kylian’s commitment and daily work for the team.’

“The extent of that bad atmosphere was laid bare after the dressing-room fight between Aurelien Tchouameni and Federico Valverde at the training ground on Thursday.”

Cortegana concluded by noting there is a belief Mbappe doesn’t want to play another home match for Real Madrid this season to avoid being booed by the Bernabeu crowd.

Over to you, Jose.

Want more breaking transfer lines from original sources? Add TEAMtalk as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trust.