Club’s business this summer is to reorganise its affairs and there are big decisions to make from the squad to the executive level
Real Madrid started the season with Xabi Alonso announcing a new era. Well, that didn’t happen, to be sure. Instead, after the Champions League exit to Bayern Munich, club president Florentino Perez addressed the dressing room and described the season as an “intolerable failure”.
Madrid finished their second consecutive year without a major trophy, something that had not happened at the club since 2009-10. To put boot to already broken lip, eternal rivals Barcelona have won five trophies in that time and are absolutely flying under Hansi Flick.
That’s why the coming summer is hugely important. The club simply need to get back on track.
What has happened?
Xabi Alonso arrived last summer with considerable aura around him after his achievements at Bayer Leverkusen. But by the new year the entire sporting project had collapsed and Alonso was replaced with Alvaro Arbeloa.
It feels like it was a mistake sacking Alonso just seven months into the job, and many Madrid fans have certainly made their displeasure known. Arbeloa oversaw some memorable games and had some good results, but the decision to leave him in charge was always puzzling.
A training ground fist-fight between Federico Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni confirmed that all was not well in the dressing room, and there have been calls to let one of Vinicius Junior or Kylian Mbappe leave. The impact of the latter has been questioned since his arrival, despite his otherworldly goalscoring form.
Now Madrid’s business this summer is to reorganise its affairs. The first major issue is the presidential elections, with incumbent Florentino Perez being challenged by 37-year-old businessman Enrique Riquelme. Then the issue of the next manager will need sorting.
After that, the club have made indications of going big in the market to plug obvious gaps in the squad. But what that will look like will depend on who the manager is, which will depend on who the president is.
The elections
Perez’s surprise decision to call presidential elections has changed the mood around the Bernabeu entirely. The 79-year-old still had an active mandate running until 2029 and had not faced an election challenge since returning to the presidency in 2009, but he used a dramatic press conference to publicly confront rivals “moving in the shadows” to come forward and contest the elections.
Florentino Pérez: “We are going to call elections, and I will run with this Board of Directors to defend the interests of the members.”
— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) May 12, 2026
Riquelme, whom Perez is believed to have been referring to, has now emerged and registered his candidacy. The club’s electoral board has confirmed that he satisfied the strict financial conditions required to stand, including demonstrating personal wealth exceeding €187m, and Madrid’s members (socios) will vote on 7 June.
The manager
Jose Mourinho has emerged as Perez’s preferred candidate to take over the squad in the summer, with talks ongoing through the agent Jorge Mendes. Perez is understood to have deep respect and admiration for Mourinho and believes his return will restore authority and competitiveness quickly to the club.
However, the club will almost certainly not go in that direction if Riquelme wins the elections. In an interview, he said the club needed a coach suited to a “long-term project” and insisted Madrid “cannot continue operating with short-term thinking”.
“We are going to appoint a coach who fits a long-term project,” Riquelme said. “Members are going to feel very proud of the profile we bring to Real Madrid.
“This is a project designed to generate excitement from day one, but also to create a truly professional structure with hierarchy, organisation and real management capacity.”
Asked if he sees Jurgen Klopp as an option, Riquelme said: “We are looking at profiles among the very best coaches in world football, people with the level of experience and leadership required to manage a club like Real Madrid.
“Naturally, I would love for profiles of that calibre, and others like them, to coach this club.”
