Mourinho's Real Madrid return comes with a catch: no Ferrari to training

Jose Mourinho will have to leave his £250,000 Ferrari 612 Scaglietti in the garage when he reports for duty at Real Madrid, thanks to a club-wide partnership with BMW that obliges all players and coaching staff to arrive at the Bernabeu and training ground in the German manufacturer’s cars.

The arrangement is all-encompassing at Los Blancos, covering the men’s and women’s squads as well as the basketball side. Every season, Real athletes receive a new BMW from a pre-set catalogue — a perk that currently sees Jude Bellingham and Kylian Mbappe each driving a BMW XM, a 748-horsepower hybrid that reaches 60 mph in 3.8 seconds and retails at around £135,000.

Mourinho is no stranger to high-end motors. His personal collection includes a £200,000 Bentley and a Jaguar F-Pace, but his most celebrated car is the Ferrari 612 Scaglietti, reportedly gifted to him by former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich in 2007 and valued at £250,000 — a figure that may have risen further since. He arrived for his first day at Benfica last September behind the wheel of the same classic.

The rule is not new to Real Madrid’s foreign recruits. Trent Alexander-Arnold encountered the same restriction after joining from Liverpool, meaning his £130,000 Range Rover P530 was off-limits for the commute to work.

In Mourinho’s case, the restriction technically applies to his personal chauffeur rather than the manager himself, but the outcome is the same: a BMW will be his official chariot at the club. Given the quality of vehicles on offer, it is hardly a hardship — though trading a Ferrari for a fleet car, however powerful, will require some adjustment for a man who has always had a taste for the theatrical.

Vinicius Junior, meanwhile, has been spotted arriving in a BMW i7 M70, suggesting the club’s star players are making full use of the arrangement.