Real Madrid legend Nacho Fernández: “Mourinho is exactly what they need” | OneFootball

Nacho pictured making his Real Madrid debut in 2011 [Getty Images]

As José Mourinho prepares for his second stint in charge of Real Madrid, one of the players to whom he gave a debut during his first spell has backed the decision to re-appoint the Portuguese.

Nacho Fernández was handed his first La Liga appearance against Valencia by Mourinho in April 2011 at the age of 21. Although his progress into senior football took some time, Nacho found himself a fringe player in first team for Mourinho’s last season in 2012-13, after which he remained in the ranks for over a decade.

The defender made a total of 364 appearances for his boyhood club, winning a host of trophies, including four La Liga titles and an astonishing six Champions League trophies. Now with Saudi Arabian club Al Qadsiah, Nacho spoke extensively with Madrid-based paper AS about Mourinho.

"Well, for me and my whole family, Mourinho is a special person,” Nacho said. “He's the coach who marked my career, the one who gave me my debut, the one who gave me the opportunity... I made my debut that day, but I had already done pre-seasons with him.

“Following that game at Mestalla, many more games with the first team followed. Mou will always be special to me. Regardless of being a great coach, what he is, for me and my whole family, is 'the coach', so to speak.

“What can I say? I wish him the best in this second stage. I think a coach has arrived who is exactly what Real Madrid needs now: a bit of rigor. I remember that phase as one of the best of my life.

“That's where it all started for me at Real Madrid. And I'm very happy and very grateful, of course, to Mou.”

Mourinho joins Real Madrid at a relatively difficult point for the club, which has gone two seasons without a trophy. Given Madrid’s relentlessly high expectations, the fruitless spell is seen as something which must be addressed immediately – a task Nacho believes Mourinho is ready for.

"I don't know if, in the end, they will win titles, because, after all, this is football and it's not easy. What I'm very clear about is that he will have the players committed, he will have them giving 100%.

“The intensity he imposes in every training session and in every game... I, who have been there, can guarantee you that they are at 100%. Therefore, if the players and Mourinho can all be in sync, I have no doubt that good things are to come for Real Madrid.

“Mou is Real Madrid, he's a Madridista. That's what matters, he knows perfectly well what it's like to win and what it's like to lose at this club. If the players are with him until the end, beautiful things are to come for Real Madrid."