Mourinho leaves door open for Madrid return

Fenerbahce head coach José Mourinho has said he is not ruling out managing Real Madrid again.

Mourinho, 61, guided Madrid to a LaLiga title, Copa del Rey and Spanish Supercup during his three seasons with at the club between 2010 and 2013.

Asked if he would be open to return to coach Madrid one day, the Portuguese manager said: “I’ll always be a big fan of Real Madrid. They have the best coach in the world, my friend Carlo [Ancelotti]. He’s doing very well. The future depends on what the president [Florentino Perez] wants, if he wants a young coach with a big projection as Xabi [Alonso] or continue in the same line as Carlo, a coach with experience, or look at the youth section [Madrid reserves coach] with Raul or [Madrid youth team coach Alvaro] Arbeloa. It depends.”

Former Madrid midfielder and Bayer Leverkusen coach Alonso is considered to be among the front-runners to succeed Ancelotti, should Madrid part ways with the Italian coach.

Ancelotti, 65, is in his second spell at Madrid and has a contract with the team through June 2026.

Mourinho, who took over the Fenerbahce job six months after leaving Roma, is convinced Madrid president Perez will make the “right” choice when the time comes to name Ancelotti’s successor.

“Florentino [Perez] hasn’t made many wrong decisions at Madrid,” Mourinho said. “I’m certain as a Madrid fan that his next decision will be the right one.”

Madrid are second in LaLiga, two points adrift of Barcelona but have a game in hand.

Ancelotti’s team won 3-2 at Atalanta in Tuesday’s Champions League encounter.

With two games left, Ancelotti’s side are 18th in the 36-team Champions League table on nine points, three points off the top eight spots which secure direct qualification to the round of 16.