Arda Guler excited about prospect of working with Jose Mourinho

Mourinho's return to Real Madrid was announced during the 2026 FIFA World Cup almost 13 years after he first left the LaLiga giants.

The Portuguese manager was very successful in his first stint with Real Madrid and, despite mixed results with various teams since his departure, there was plenty of excitement surrounding the announcement of his return.

The Los Blancos squad has been back in pre-season training for around two weeks with Mourinho at the helm already, with players that competed at the World Cup beginning to return to training over the past few days.

Guler was back in action in the 1-0 loss against Alcoron in a friendly clash earlier this week and missed a penalty in the match.

Even though the result wasn't what anyone at the club would have been hoping for, not much stock is placed on friendly results with the focus being more on building towards the beginning of the new LaLiga season.

While Real Madrid did not have the best of campaigns in 2025-26, Guler was excellent from an individual standpoint and is hoping to build upon that with another good season under the guidance of Mourinho.

"I missed my home. I'm very happy to start working to always give a better version on the pitch," he said.

"I have learned and improved a lot, but my enthusiasm has never changed. I want to win everything like the first day and make the Madridistas happy.

"It's a great opportunity to work with a legend like Mourinho. He and his team explain everything very clearly and are also very sincere off the pitch," Guler said.

"In pre-season the most important thing is to work on the physical part but also to listen and learn what Mourinho asks of us to be able to do well on the pitch."