Florentino Pérez, the president of Real Madrid, will not make the same mistake after the failure of Xabi Alonso. High-level strategist and German champion to everyone’s surprise with Leverkusen, the former midfielder did not manage to impose his football on the Merengues. The fault lies in a total loss of the locker room after clashes with Vinicius, Federico Valverde and Jude Bellingham. Alvaro Arbeloa took over in January but also faced discontent from some, notably Dani Carvajal, Raul Asencio and even Dani Ceballos last week.
It is therefore to a coach of great experience that Casa Blanca will give orders in a few weeks. Real’s leaders would very much like to entrust this task to Jürgen Klopp, but the German coach does not seem very motivated by the idea of coming out of retirement, two years after his departure from Liverpool. Even more so with this unbalanced formation led by Kylian Mbappé, where even the young understudies have an inordinate ego (like Raul Asencio, sometimes cataclysmic this season).
Two other coaches are clearly favored by Madrid decision-makers, according to ESPN: Mauricio Pochettino, who is nevertheless very busy preparing for the 2026 World Cup at the head of the United States national team, the main host country of the competition, as well as José Mourinho, stationed at Benfica and who would have directly contacted Merengues players in recent days!
Didier Deschamps in plans B
According to the Spanish correspondents of the American media, four other profiles were validated: the coach of Argentina Lionel Scaloni, the coach of AC Milan Massimiliano Allegri (that is to say if the game project takes second place at Real), Unai Emery, stationed at Aston Villa since 2022 and quadruple winner of the Europa League with Sevilla and Villarreal, as well as another Basque named Didier Deschamps.
The 14-year reign of the coach of the 2018 world champions Blues ends this summer with the 2026 World Cup. Deschamps, who finished his career in Spain (in Valencia in 2000-2001), will most likely not accept a coaching position which would have him directly follow the World Cup (final on July 19 in New York) with pre-season preparation with a club. What he now knows is that big clubs may be interested in his profile as an experienced coach hungry for victories.
