Is Jose Mourinho worth the ‘rubbish’? Real Madrid not guaranteed to win with the ‘Special One’ as Michael Owen predicts whether Portuguese will last a season

Mourinho oversaw a Liga title triumph and Copa del Rey success during his previous stint in the Spanish capital - which lasted 178 games between 2010 and 2013. He was in competition with Pep Guardiola’s star-studded Barcelona side at that point - with Lionel Messi and Co providing the toughest of opposition.

More silverware has been secured since then - including a Premier League title at Chelsea and Europa League crown with Manchester United - but the outspoken 63-year-old last savoured a major trophy triumph when lifting the Conference League with Roma in 2022.

Relatively short-lived spells at Fenerbahce and Benfica have been taken in, with questions being asked of supposedly weakening powers, but Real are ready to roll the dice again with a familiar face as Florentino Perez takes a calculated gamble on a man with a glittering CV.

Quizzed on whether that is a shrewd call or recipe for disaster, ex-Madrid striker Owen - the face of Casino.org in the UK, a leading comparison website helping Brits find online casinos that suit their preferences - told GOAL: “A surprising one for me. He's not done amazingly well in his last handful of jobs. He's had a go at Real Madrid already. I was surprised by it. Not that enthused by it, to be honest. We will wait and see.

“Barcelona are in good form at the moment. He'll have his work cut out. But it is Real Madrid at the end of the day. They've got a lot of money. They've got a lot of great players. They've got a great stadium, a great squad. It's an amazing job to be taking so I don't blame him for taking it. But I was surprised that Madrid gave it to him, I must admit.”

With Real having gone two seasons without landing the biggest of domestic and continental prizes, are they now prepared to sacrifice style for substance? In response to that question, Owen added: “In a way. But there's lots of other managers that win. What's Jose Mourinho won in the last five years or whatever? Even his time at Real Madrid wasn't scintillating. So it's not like you put Jose in and it's a guaranteed win and you've got to just take all the rubbish that's going to go along with it - the histrionics and everything else.

“There's no guarantee of winning with him. You could have said there was 15 years ago. But just to appoint him and say, ‘right, okay, we're going to accept histrionics, but at least we're going to win’. I don't think that's a given at all. If it was just a guarantee of winning, then I would get it. But I don't think there is that guarantee.”

Mourinho lasted just 62 games at Fenerbahce, and 45 after returning to his roots at Benfica, so is he the man to build a brighter long-term future at the Bernabeu? Pressed on whether he will still be in Madrid when the 2026-27 campaign comes to a close, Owen said: “With Madrid, it's very much toss of a coin, isn't it? You're winning, everything's rosy. And if you're not, then you're sacked. It probably is a toss of a coin. That league is a toss of a coin.

“Who's going to win, Barcelona or Real Madrid? And whoever's not going to win is, either Hansi Flick's going to get the sack or Jose Mourinho's going to get the sack three quarters of the way through the next season, I presume. It's toss of a coin, take your pick.

“I would have thought that Real Madrid would be looking to the future, looking to build something. I think it's a very short-term, non-imaginative appointment. He's got the credentials, but I just expected somebody else.”

Mourinho will be working with some big characters and personalities - such as Vinicius Junior and Kylian Mbappe. Pressed on whether fireworks in the dressing room can be avoided, Owen said: “One thing that Jose is, everybody that plays for him, loves him.

“Everybody I talk to that's had him as manager, or the vast majority, think he's an amazing man-to-man manager. I think if there's anybody to potentially solve all that, then that could be a good appointment. But that remains to be seen as well.”

Real are yet to officially confirm Mourinho’s return, with Benfica due a sizeable compensation package, but Alvaro Arbeloa has been relieved of his duties as interim head coach.

Mourinho should get a full summer - including pre-season and another transfer window - in which to get his feet under the table again and put his own stamp on a squad that has been underperforming. It remains to be seen how long that experiment lasts.