Real Madrid manager race: Mauricio Pochettino moves ahead of Jurgen Klopp as Alvaro Arbeloa faces axe

Real Madrid’s search for their next head coach is already taking shape after a bruising week in which the club’s season moved closer to ending without silverware. Reports around the Bernabeu now suggest Mauricio Pochettino has emerged as a serious contender for the job, with Alvaro Arbeloa increasingly vulnerable after a disappointing run that has left Madrid off the pace domestically and out of major cup competitions.

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The timing is significant. Madrid’s Champions League exit at the hands of Bayern Munich, sealed by a 4-3 defeat in Bavaria and a 6-4 aggregate loss, intensified scrutiny on the coaching position. In La Liga, the team sits nine points behind leaders Barcelona, while defeats in the Supercopa final and the Copa del Rey have deepened the sense that this campaign has fallen well below the club’s usual standards.

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Pochettino moves into the frame

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According to the source material, Florentino Perez is expected to make a managerial change if the season closes without a trophy, and Pochettino is now considered a stronger candidate than Jurgen Klopp. That detail matters, because Klopp has dominated much of the speculation in recent days. The former Liverpool manager remains one of the most glamorous names linked with the role, and Real Madrid is one of the few jobs in world football that could realistically draw him back to the dugout.

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Yet the same reports indicate Klopp is currently leaning toward staying in his post as Red Bull’s head of global football rather than returning immediately to frontline coaching. If that remains his position through the summer, Madrid would need to accelerate conversations with alternative targets. In that scenario, Pochettino’s standing becomes much more relevant.

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The Argentine has long been admired by Perez, and that long-term appreciation appears to be keeping him firmly in the conversation. Pochettino is currently in charge of the United States men’s national team, but the report suggests a move after the World Cup could become a realistic possibility. For Madrid, that makes him a viable option at a moment when the club may want a coach with top-level experience, personality, and enough tactical flexibility to reset an underperforming squad quickly.

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Why Arbeloa is under such heavy pressure

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Arbeloa only stepped into the role in January after replacing Xabi Alonso, but the pressure at Real Madrid rarely allows for a long grace period. The source text describes Perez as ruthless in trophyless seasons, noting that Zinedine Zidane is the only manager not to be dismissed by the president after failing to deliver silverware. That history leaves Arbeloa in dangerous territory.

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Results have not been kind to his case. Madrid’s elimination from Europe was followed by renewed criticism of the side’s overall level, not just the controversial late red card shown to Eduardo Camavinga in Munich. The broader argument is that Madrid simply have not been good enough over the course of the campaign. Falling nine points behind Barcelona, losing the Supercopa final, and suffering a shock Copa del Rey exit to second-tier Albacete have all combined to weaken any case for continuity.

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Even if some inside the club admire Arbeloa’s connection to Madrid and his willingness to step into a difficult situation, the numbers and the optics are working against him. At a club where expectations are defined by trophies, close calls and partial progress do not usually protect a coach for long.

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Other names remain in the conversation

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Madrid’s shortlist may not stop with Pochettino and Klopp. The same reporting also mentions Zidane and Didier Deschamps as possible options. Zidane’s legacy at the club guarantees that his name will surface whenever the bench becomes unstable, especially given his remarkable spell between 2016 and 2018, when he led Madrid to three consecutive Champions League titles.

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Still, Zidane’s own ambitions could complicate any return. The report says he is targeting the France national team job after the World Cup, which would reduce the likelihood of an immediate comeback to club football. Deschamps, meanwhile, could become a free agent at that point, though his lack of club management since 2012 would be part of any serious internal discussion.

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• Pochettino is described as a stronger candidate than Klopp at this stage.
• Klopp is reportedly inclined to remain in his current Red Bull role.
• Arbeloa is under pressure after setbacks in La Liga, the Champions League, the Supercopa and the Copa del Rey.
• Zidane and Deschamps are also mentioned as alternative options.

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For now, Madrid have not announced any decision. But the direction of the reporting is clear: Arbeloa’s position is fragile, the board is evaluating succession plans, and Pochettino has moved from background possibility to genuine contender. With Madrid entering a decisive stretch of the season under pressure and without margin for error, the managerial story is no longer a side plot. It is becoming one of the club’s biggest stories of the coming months.