Real Madrid Reappoints Former Coach Jose Mourinho

Madrid. Spanish football club Real Madrid has confirmed the reappointment of its former coach Jose Mourinho as the head coach. The 63-year-old Portuguese coach Mourinho has signed a three-year contract with the club. 

He will take up his duties from July 13 when the team returns for pre-season training. Real has paid 15 million Euros in compensation to his recent club Benfica to bring Mourinho back to the Santiago Bernabeu. This is Mourinho's second innings at Real Madrid, his first tenure ended 13 years ago. 

Florentino Perez, 79, who was re-elected president with 65 percent of the vote in the club's recent elections, had promised to bring back Mourinho if he won the election. Mourinho's path opened after Perez returned to power, defeating his rival Enrique Requélme. 

Mourinho, who has already led Porto and Inter Milan to Champions League titles, has now returned to the club, the record 15-time European champions. Previously, during his tenure at Real Madrid from 2010 to 2013, he led them to one La Liga, one Copa del Rey, and one Spanish Super Cup. 

After leaving Madrid, Mourinho managed Premier League clubs Chelsea, Manchester United, and Tottenham, as well as Roma, Fenerbahçe, and Benfica. In his only season in his second spell at Benfica, he kept the team undefeated in the League Portugal, but the team finished only third. 

Benfica has already appointed former Fulham manager Marco Silva in Mourinho's place. Real Madrid, which has not won any titles for the past two seasons, ended its collaboration with Xabi Alonso last January, and Álvaro Arbeloa managed the team on an interim basis until the end of the season.