Mourinho pushes Vlahovic to Madrid: 'This number nine is what I need'

At Valdebebas on Wednesday afternoon, Real Madrid’s third round of board meetings closed. President Florentino Perez sat down with Jose Mourinho and the club’s sporting director. On the table sat a twenty-page dossier with one name: Vlahovic.

The Portuguese coach had tried to bring the Serbian to his previous club twice already, and both times the Turin board was put off by the figure. Now Real has a chance to sign him without a transfer fee, since Vlahovic is out of contract at Juventus on 30 June.

What Real is offering

The club has let the structure of the offer leak to the press. A five-year deal with a first-year salary of 10 million euros net, then a phased increase. A signing bonus of around 8 million, standard for free agents of Real’s calibre.

Vlahovic would become the second Serbian player in the white shirt after Predrag Mijatovic. The club sees him as a classic striker who brings weight against low-block sides.

Mourinho asked for a centre-forward who can win loose balls on his own in play, and Vlahovic is one of three or four players in Europe who does that consistently, sources close to the club say.

Mourinho works with two number nines, Mbappe as the lead striker, Vlahovic as alternative for certain matches or partner in a twin attack.

A market that pushes the price

Vlahovic is not alone on the market. Bayern shut the door after Kane, but if the Munich club reaches for an alternative, Real has to close the deal before the signing bonus jumps.

• Arsenal is waiting on a Gyokeres or Jesus decision, and pulls out if he returns before the start of the season
• Atletico has opened a backup dossier, doesn’t want to pay 9 million net
• Milan sees an opening to grab Vlahovic if Scopelliti opens the room
• The Saudi league hasn’t backed off, with Al Ittihad as the primary club
• Napoli followed Vlahovic for five months, now looks at other profiles
• Vlahovic’s team has set 7 July as the cut-off date

The player wants La Liga first, then the Bundesliga as an alternative.

Mourinho’s system and one open question

The Portuguese coach in his previous spell at Roma used a 3-4-2-1 formation with Tammy Abraham as the lone number nine. In Madrid he has promised a 4-3-3 with Mbappe as centre-forward, Vinicius Junior on the left, Rodrygo on the right.

Adding Vlahovic makes the maths come out with two centre-forwards. Mourinho explained to the press that this is the intention. Mbappe plays one match, Vlahovic another, or both together against teams that defend in a deep block.

Vlahovic is plan A for situations where we need the centre-forward to lead defensive pressing. Mbappe in those moments can slide as an eight, and the Serbian holds the nine as a classic striker, Mourinho’s team said.

The combination isn’t unusual in modern football, but it requires both players to accept rotation through the season. Mbappe has been the focus of the attack for the past two years, now he’s preparing to share the role.

The Mbappe contract question

There’s one open question that could turn it all around. Kylian Mbappe has a contract through 2029, but with a release clause at the end of his second season, first triggered in June 2027.

Saudi clubs have been chasing his agent for six months with packages above 200 million euros per season. If the French international shifts that option toward activation at some point, Vlahovic would automatically take over as the first number nine.

That’s exactly the line on which Real is watching Vlahovic. Not as a Mbappe replacement, but as an insurance policy against a scenario no club in the world wants to admit but everyone is calculating.

Next steps

Mourinho returns to Madrid on 2 June after a break. Vlahovic’s signature on a pre-contract is expected then, with the official papers only able to go on the table after 1 July.

The club plans a presentation on 6 or 7 July, in parallel with the end of the first round of the Sunderland Tjebs tournament that they themselves use for promotional shoots. Vlahovic would go through standard medicals at the Real Madrid medical centre and sign the contract the same day.

Is Mourinho ready to bend his system for Vlahovic, or will the Serbian have to accept the role of second number nine behind Mbappe?