Real Madrid are looking for a new manager at the end of the 2025/26 season, as the initial optimism with Alvaro Arbeloa has clearly faded away. Arbeloa thought by playing the "Good Cop" to Xabi Alonso the disciplinarian, he could keep the locker room united, but the damage had already been done to that point, while Arbeloa was not strong enough tactically to truly command the locker room.
Arbeloa and Alonso both have promising futures in world football ahead of them, but Real Madrid president Florentino Perez clearly wants a heavyweight back in charge. And through the history of Real Madrid, only the elite managers have been able to be succesful, and even Zinedine Zidane had been an amazing coach on the field and an amazing assistant for the iconic Carlo Ancelotti before blossoming into his own as a head manager in Madrid.
Real Madrid are intent on bringing Jose Mourinho back into the fold, therefore, as their superstar manager to set the egos run amok in the Madrid dressing room in check. But that hasn't stopped a former rival rising up the ranks in another top league from throwing his hat into the ring.
Cesc Fabregas is a very bright young manager
Speaking on COPE, former Barcelona star center midfielder and current Como manager Cesc Fabregas admitted that coaching Real Madrid and turning turncoat on La Blaugrana would not be a hard stop for him. He said, via Madrid Xtra, “Is coaching Real Madrid a red line for me? No, a red line for me would be being an assistant manager, I always wanted to be the head manager.”
Now, it is too late for Real Madrid to consider Fabregas as a true Alvaro Arbeloa replacement with how close they are getting to hiring Jose Mourinho, nor would Florentino Perez want to trade two unproven managers in Xabi Alonso and Arbeloa for another in Fabregas.
But Fabregas is a better coach than Alonso and Arbeloa. He was a better player than both, and his understanding of the game and squad building is much higher than those two. Arbeloa is great at working with young players and Alonso had an incredible season at Bayer Leverkusen, but a lot of what was given to those two was handed to them on a platter.
Fabregas has had to build Como into his identity and forge a different brand of football on his own, adapating perfectly a new, modern style of football from what he learned under Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho, Arsene Wenger, and others between stints at Chelsea, Arsenal, and Barcelona. It is a surprise that he would want to think about Real Madrid in the future, and after Mourinho, he is a name worth keeping on the list.
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