Benfica demand 15 million euro fee for Real Madrid to secure Mourinho's services

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Benfica’s Portuguese head coach Jose Mourinho attends a press conference on the eve of the UEFA Champions League, League phase matchday 8 match between SL Benfica and Real Madrid CF at Benfica Campus in Seixal, on January 27, 2026. (Photo by FILIPE AMORIM / AFP)

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Portuguese giants Benfica confirmed on Thursday that Real Madrid would have to pay 15 million euros to prise away their coach Jose Mourinho.

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Real president Florentino Perez has vowed to bring back Mourinho to the Bernabeu, 13 years after he left the club in 2013, as he seeks re-election this weekend.

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Benfica released a statement saying that Perez had told them of his “firm intention to recruit” Mourinho, while stipulating that the Portuguese boss’s release clause was worth 15 million euros ($17.4m).

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Previous media reports had suggested that it could cost the Spanish giants as little as three million euros.

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Mourinho has already appeared in a video on Perez’s Instagram account affirming that he was ready to return to the club he first joined in 2010.

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During his tenure, he won one La Liga title, a Copa del Rey and a Spanish Super Cup.

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Appointing the divisive Mourinho would be a gamble on the part of Perez after Los Blancos finished without a major trophy for a second consecutive season.

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But Perez sees Mourinho as the man to bring some discipline to a divided dressing room in which player power is rumoured to have got out of control.

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Mourinho joined Benfica in September 2025 and led them to an unbeaten league season, although they only finished third.

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He has one year left on his contract.

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