The road to Benfica is open…Mourinho’s potential successor is stepping down

Back from the Premier League.

After five seasons on the banks of the Thames, Marco Silva has brought the curtain down on his experience with Fulham in a move that came out of nowhere but a clear prelude to an expected return to Portugal with Benfica set to bid farewell to compatriot Jose Mourinho, who is set to join Real Madrid.

The London club announced today, Tuesday, that the Portuguese manager will leave this summer at the end of his contract, in a decision that owner Shahid Khan described as an “inevitable change”, adding in an official statement:

In his farewell message to the fans, Silva did not hide his longing for the club, saying: “I asked you to stay with us from day one and you did… We achieved a lot together and Fulham will always be in my heart and I will be back at Craven Cottage one day.”

The numbers sum up Silva’s era in west London: 229 appearances, 104 wins, 42 draws and 83 defeats, during which he guided the team back to the Premier League and established themselves among the big leagues.

But behind the farewell announcement, the threads of a purely Portuguese deal are moving, with Portuguese media reporting that Silva has become the front-runner to succeed Mourinho and that talks have reached their final stage, taking advantage of his time away from Fulham without any contractual obligations.

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Mourinho himself, who took charge of Benfica last September and led them to an unbeaten run until the end of the season, fell short of the title, settling for third place, eight points behind champions Porto and two behind runners-up Sporting. This relative failure hastened his departure for a bigger challenge in Madrid, where a wounded Real awaits him after two scoreless seasons and a charged atmosphere in the dressing room.

So Silva’s departure from Fulham does not seem like an end, but more of a bridge, a bridge that brings him back to the Portuguese league after a long absence, but this time to lead one of the continent’s bigs, at a time when Benfica are looking for technical stability after the short-lived Mourinho era.

 

We can confirm that Marco Silva will leave the position of head coach at “Fulham” this summer.

This is a position that Silva has held for five years. charm that was loaded with success.

— Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC) June 2, 2026

 

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