What we can learn about Jose Mourinhos Real Madrid rebuild from his first photographs

Jose Mourinho is back at Real Madrid — and, as ever, it is on his terms.

During Madrid's recent presidential election campaign, just moments after challenger Enrique Riquelme had finished speaking on Spain's leading entertainment show El Hormiguero on June 3, viewers across the country were greeted by an advert featuring Mourinho alongside the slogan: “Florentino Perez 2026.â€

The 63-year-old coach had not yet been officially announced as agreeing to a second spell at the Bernabeu, but simply saying “Yes†while wearing a Madrid shirt was enough to reveal his return — and publicly back the man who first brought him to the club for that initial reign between 2010 and 2013.

Five days later, after Perez had been re-elected with 65 per cent of the vote, Mourinho appeared in another campaign video.

His message was even shorter: “Yes, of course†— he would be returning to Madrid from then employers Benfica.

Despite playing such a visible role during the election campaign, Mourinho has yet to be formally presented to the supporters. There has been no unveiling or introductory press conference — the kind of events that normally follow every high-profile appointment and signing at Madrid.

Sources close to Mourinho, who, like all others in this article, spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect relationships, even suggested at the time that there may not be a presentation at all. Club sources say the situation remains unresolved, with no decision yet on when — or if — one will take place.

What is certain is that Mourinho and his coaching staff have spent two weeks working at the Valdebebas training ground. Officially, almost everything we know about the start of his second spell as manager has come from the club or from Mourinho through social media.

That is nothing unusual for Mourinho but in the absence of a public appearance, those posts have become one of the clearest windows into how his return to Madrid is unfolding.

A blurred selfie posted by Mourinho on July 10 may not have been his finest photograph, but it struck a chord with Madrid supporters.

Whether driven by admiration or nostalgia for his first spell, the club's fans flooded the comments section welcoming back their hero. The post attracted more than 27,500 comments — more than any other Mourinho has placed on Instagram in recent months.

People close to Mourinho say he works with Polaris (a PR company linked to Portugal's Gestifute management agency and his representative Jorge Mendes), although mainly on the commercial side. His social-media accounts, they insist, remain his own work: “Everything is very natural. Nothing is forced.“

That fits with the image Mourinho has cultivated for years. During his time as Roma manager from 2021 to 2024, he regularly posted informal snapshots of his everyday life in Italy — from eating pizza to sharing a picture of himself asleep.

Only a few hours after Mourinho's selfie appeared, Madrid uploaded a gallery featuring the Portuguese coach alongside members of his backroom staff: assistant coach Joao Tralhao, technical assistant Sami Khedira (the former Madrid midfielder), head analyst Roberto Merella and fitness coaches Antonio Silva and Antonio Pintus.

That gallery was accompanied by a short video interview with Mourinho lasting less than three minutes.

“Words aren't enough, because this feels like a mission,†he says in it. “This isn't about me or whether I win more or less. I'm here to help everybody become better.â€

When Mourinho took charge of his first on-pitch session on July 13, as many as 14 of Madrid's first-team squad were still away after playing — or were still competing — in the World Cup finals in North America.

It was little surprise, then, that Mourinho had been keeping a close eye on that tournament, as another Instagram post showed. That image captured the coaching staff at Valdebebas, with a bespectacled and barefoot Mourinho reclining on a sofa while watching Spain's 2-0 World Cup semi-final win against France.

Among those on the pitch in that match was Marc Cucurella, a player highly regarded by Mourinho's staff, who were the driving forces behind Madrid's move to sign the Spain full-back this summer from Chelsea.

The training pitches at Valdebebas have provided further insight into Mourinho's return.

He has regularly been seen leading sessions, directing drills or standing, notebook in hand, under the intense Spanish summer heat, watching his new charges go through their paces.

Valdebebas sources describe Mourinho as demanding but approachable — someone who pushes players hard while remaining involved in every detail of training. The same sources say sessions have been performed at a high tempo, with frequent double training days and a strong emphasis on strength and conditioning work.

Mourinho dishes out his instructions in training (David S. Bustamante/Real Madrid via Getty Images)

Madrid's World Cup players gradually began to return as their countries' campaigns came to an end, including Federico Valverde after Uruguay's miserable group-stage exit.

Following Valverde's two training-ground altercations with team-mate Aurelien Tchouameni last season, there had been considerable curiosity over how the club would handle his situation, with the pair having been fined €500,000 (£427,000; $569,000) each in May.

This week, Madrid seemed keen to highlight the mutual admiration between Valverde and Mourinho. The two of them embraced on the midfielder's first day back at training, which happened to be his 28th birthday.

The new boss welcomes Federico Valverde back to training (Helios de la Rubia/Real Madrid via Getty Images)

The images reinforced another message too: despite the issues that clouded the end of last season, Valverde remains in line to become Madrid's next captain following the summer departure of previous skipper and long-serving full-back Dani Carvajal.

More broadly, the atmosphere around training has been described as overwhelmingly positive, with excitement surrounding Mourinho's arrival.

The much-travelled coach has used these opening weeks of pre-season to assess several academy players — there were initially 12 of them training with the first team — including some whose futures at Madrid remain uncertain, such as Raul Asencio (23), Franco Mastantuono (18) and Gonzalo Garcia (22).

For now, with those situations unresolved and Mourinho yet to make his first public appearance, his Instagram account continues to offer the best insight into these early days of his second spell in charge.

And if the first few weeks are anything to go by, it is unlikely to disappoint.