Real Madrid are set for a major shake-up in the coming weeks, starting from the appointment of a new manager to replace Alvaro Arbeloa, reports madriduniversal.com.

As has been confirmed by multiple reliable sources, Jose Mourinho is the frontrunner to take over the reins at the Santiago Bernabeu, marking his return to the club 13 years after he left for Chelsea.

However, the sudden announcement of the club presidential elections by Florentino Perez has come as a minor bump in the road.

Nevertheless, AS reports that Mourinho is very happy and motivated about a potential return to Real Madrid in the coming weeks.

For now, the Portuguese coach remains focused on Benfica and his attempts to secure Champions League football for next season.

However, that does not mean that he is ignoring everything happening in the Spanish capital.

The motivation to say yes to Real Madrid has grown significantly in recent days. Mourinho knows that this could be the right moment to help rebuild the sporting identity of the club, and his desire to return has intensified.

In fact, the manager himself has already publicly stated that his decision will be known next week, only days before the deadline to activate the release clause in his Benfica contract expires.

Mourinho is said to be genuinely pleased with everything that is happening. He is once again at the centre of attention and the fact that Florentino has considered him again makes him feel that the possibility of one final and unexpected chapter at Real Madrid is now on the table.

His departure from the club in 2013 did not happen in the way he would have liked, and Mourinho believes his story at the Bernabeu was left unfinished.

Perez remains as acting president while the electoral process, which officially began yesterday, continues.

The current board can still make decisions during this period, although logic suggests that the most strategic moves will only arrive once the elections are fully resolved.

Even so, Real Madrid’s statutes allow normal operations to continue throughout the presentation of guarantees and until a new board of directors is officially appointed.

As reported by Miguel Serrano in a recent update, Mourinho has already begun taking steps towards winning the dressing room’s favour and has begun by making contact with some of the heavyweights.

The journalist reports that the soon-to-be Real Madrid manager has directly spoken to three prominent names in the dressing room in recent days – Thibaut Courtois, Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr.

Of them, Mourinho is convinced that Vinicius Jr. is his most important man and wants the player to be his “soldier” on the field.

The manager knows of the massive leadership role that Vinicius plays in the dressing room and that the team loves him.

He thus believes that if he gets the Brazilian to buy into his project at the club, the squad will follow suit.

Ironically, however, Vinicius is the Real Madrid player with whom Mourinho currently shares the most difficult history, especially given everything that happened between them in Real Madrid’s clash against Benfica earlier this season.

Since then, however, word has come out that Vinicius has agreed to drop the grudge and put the team’s needs in front of his own. If the player is indeed willing to make amends with the coach, it will undoubtedly help with Mourinho’s rumoured plan.

Meanwhile, the Portuguese tactician sees Mbappe as the leader of the project. So, both he and Vinicius are set to be integral to Mourinho’s plans once he takes over at Real Madrid.