The special one to return: Real Madrid turn to Jose Mourinho to fix Alvaro Arbeloa mess

Alvaro Arbeloa arrived at Valdebebas as a safe pair of hands: a club legend, a trusted face, a man who understood what Real Madrid demanded from the inside.

Five months later, his players are hospitalising each other in the dressing room, six senior figures have stopped talking to him, and Barcelona are on the verge of lifting La Liga in front of his eyes.

Florentino Perez and Real Madrid have seen enough. And the name they keep coming back to is one that has been here before: Jose Mourinho.

From “cone” to crisis: How Alvaro Arbeloa lost the dressing room

Arbeloa’s short tenure appears set to end without a trophy, having been unable to turn around the fortunes at Madrid following Xabi Alonso’s mid-season dismissal. The numbers alone are damning. In his first weeks, he oversaw an embarrassing Copa del Rey exit to Albacete.

Meanwhile, Barcelona extended their lead at the top of La Liga to nine points with seven games to play. But the results, as catastrophic as they have been, are almost secondary to the atmosphere he has presided over.

There was initially some quiet hope that Arbeloa’s assured, “good club man” presence might get Madrid back on track after a period of turbulence. But he has not proved to be the new Zinedine Zidane.

Instead, what has emerged is a manager so stripped of authority that his own players have given him a nickname, “cone”, a reference to his perceived function as little more than a training-ground prop.

Real Madrid have been in complete turmoil, with a dressing room fractured by fights, leaks, player complaints directly to the president, and a fundamental lack of belief in the man tasked with leading them.

A manager with authority does not allow a vice-captain to spend an entire season poisoning the atmosphere, making accusations, refusing handshakes, and needling teammates through training sessions. That is a failure of leadership and it sits squarely at Arbeloa’s door.

Jose Mourinho’s demands, and why Real Madrid need every single one of them

As per Goal, Jose Mourinho has emerged as the top choice to become Real Madrid manager, with Florentino Perez driving the search for a new coach and viewing the Portuguese as the figure capable of restoring authority, competitiveness, and intensity inside the dressing room.

Representatives from the Bernabeu have held discussions with Mourinho’s entourage to accelerate negotiations, with most understood to be on board with his return. Mourinho has even held an initial conversation, during which he outlined his conditions for returning.

Those conditions are not modest. Mourinho is demanding a minimum two-year contract and full control of the squad and dressing room, with no interference in selection whatsoever, a stance described as “absolutely uncompromising.”

He wants to address the medical department directly following an alarming injury record, intends to bring his own coaching staff, and has identified seven players he wants out of the club this summer.

To some, that list reads as arrogance. In the context of what Valdebebas has become, it reads as a diagnosis. Every demand Mourinho has made corresponds to a specific failure of the current regime. Players interfering with selection? He will not tolerate it.

A fractured medical structure contributing to injuries? He wants a direct line and a second-opinion protocol. A dressing room where leaks, factions, and entitlement have run unchecked? He has made clear that if a player does not commit to their duties, they will not play, regardless of their status. That is not a demand, that is exactly what the dressing room needs.