Madrid, June 4 (IANS) Florentino Perez announced that Jose Mourinho will return as Real Madrid head coach if he is re-elected club president in Sunday’s elections.

Mourinho’s commitment to return to the club he coached between 2010 and 2013 has been an open secret for weeks, especially after Fulham confirmed on Tuesday that Marco Silva will not continue at the club.

Silva, who has the same agent Jorge Mendes as Mourinho, is expected to take over at Benfica from Mourinho, reports Xinhua.

Perez’s announcement came after his election rival Enrique Riquelme announced earlier in the day that former Real Madrid and Spain defender Fernando Hierro will be his pick to take charge of the club’s youth system.

Hierro would work alongside club legend Raul Gonzalez, whom Riquelme plans to appoint as Real Madrid’s director of football should he be elected by the club’s approximately 95,000 members.

Mourinho’s three years at Real Madrid saw the club win one La Liga title, one Copa del Rey and one Spanish Super Cup during a period where the club was slightly overshadowed by Pep Guardiola’s FC Barcelona.

The period was also marked by increasingly difficult relations between the two clubs and their respective players, widely considered a factor in Spain’s early exit from the 2014 World Cup.

Perez’s pledge to bring back Mourinho now puts pressure on Riquelme to name his own preferred head coach. Both candidates are also expected to outline potential transfer targets in the run-up to the vote, with Inter Milan right-back Denzel Dumfries and Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate among those reported to be on Real Madrid’s radar this summer.

Sunday’s elections are the first to be held at the club since 2006, with Perez subsequently elected uncontested, with no need for a vote, in 2009, 2013, 2017, 2021, and 2025.

Club members will vote on Sunday to elect Madrid’s next president, choosing between 79-year-old Perez, 79, who has been in office since 2009, and renewable energy entrepreneur Riquelme, 37.

–IANS

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