It is increasingly unlikely that Álvaro Arbeloa will stay on as Real Madrid manager beyond the end of the 2025–26 season. The former right back came in at a difficult moment, replacing XabI Alonso midway through the season, and was tasked with appeasing a dressing room that didn’t take to the previous boss’s ways. Initially, there was some quiet hope that Arbeloa’s assured, “good club man” presence might get Madrid back on track after a period of turbulence. But, despite also coming up from the B team, he has not proved to be the new Zinedine Zidane. Real Madrid are now staring down the barrel of successive trophyless seasons—an unthinkable reality for the world’s biggest club—while reports of dressing room unrest and disharmony continue. By all accounts, Arbeloa will be moved on this summer. Among the candidates linked to take over at the Bernabéu this summer , one stands out: José Mourinho.…