3 min readMay 12, 2026 10:00 PM IST
With Spanish giants Real Madrid reportedly closing in on re-appointing Jose Mourinho, former player Iker Casillas said that while he does not have a problem with the Portuguese manager, he would prefer some other coach at the helm of the Los Blancos next season.
“I’ve got no problem with Mourinho. He seems like a great professional to me. I don’t want him at
@realmadrid. I reckon other managers would be better equipped to coach at the club of my life. Personal opinion. Nothing more,” he posted on X.
Madrid have had a 2025/26 season to forget and are set to go trophy-less. They sacked manager Xabi Alonso in the middle of the season after appointing him over the summer. Interim manager Alvaro Arbeloa hasn’t fared much better with the dressing room fraught with cracks.
No tengo ningún problema con Mourinho. Me parece un gran profesional. No le quiero en el @realmadrid . Creo que otros entrenadores estarían mejor capacitados para entrenar en el club de mi vida. Opinión personal. Nada mas.
— Iker Casillas (@IkerCasillas) May 12, 2026
Captain Federico Valverde had an altercation with teammate Aurélien Tchouaméni ahead of the title-deciding El Clasico against arch rivals Barcelona on Sunday which kept the former out of the clash after allegedly accidentally knocking his head on a table. It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training last week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Real went on to lose the match against Barcelona 2-0, leading to the Catalan giants winning the La Liga title for the second year on the bounce. It is at this juncture that the Mourinho rumours have intensified.
Mourinho had spent 3 season at Real in a stint starting in 2010 but is time there was generally considered a disappointment, with only one La Liga title and one King’s Cup to his name among the three main competitions.
His stint in the Spanish capital was marked by a number of ugly clashes with arch rivals Barcelona, where the Portuguese worked as an assistant coach in the late 1990s, while he remains popular among a hard core of Real supporters.
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