Jose Mourinho has been lobbying Marc Cucurella to get his face tattooed on him, the Spain defender revealed on Spanish radio station Cadena COPE.
Cucurella told COPE’s “El Partidazo” show that his Real Madrid manager sent him a mocked-up image showing Mourinho’s face inked onto the player’s chest, a playful nod to the full-colour tribute Cucurella already carries for Spain boss Luis de la Fuente. Others around him, he said, have been egging the idea on.
“I do remember Mourinho sent me a photo with my chest and his face tattooed on it,” Cucurella told the station, in comments relayed by Goal.
The answer, though, is no. Cucurella said he does not regret the De la Fuente piece but has decided to stop adding to his tattoo collection.
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The De la Fuente promise
The joke only lands because Cucurella actually kept his previous one. Before the 2026 World Cup, the left-back promised on COPE that he would get De la Fuente’s face tattooed if Spain won the tournament.
Spain beat Argentina 1-0 after extra time in the final at MetLife Stadium on 19 July, with Ferran Torres scoring in the 106th minute, and Cucurella unveiled the finished artwork nine days later. The design shows De la Fuente holding the trophy with the number 26 beside him, inked just above the left elbow.
Cucurella captioned his social-media post “Promise kept.” Mourinho’s photoshopped suggestion is the Portuguese manager’s reply.
Mourinho the boss, up close
Cucurella, 28, joined Real Madrid from Chelsea on 15 June 2026 on a six-year contract worth up to £51.8m, five weeks before the World Cup final. Mourinho had been confirmed as Real Madrid head coach days earlier on a deal running until June 2029.
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Asked by COPE how the manager had struck him since, Cucurella said the image he had built up of Mourinho did not match the reality.
“The picture I had formed of him is different, but in a positive way,” he told the station, adding that Mourinho stays close to his players and can deliver his message in five minutes rather than a half-hour lecture.
Mourinho’s Real Madrid beat Barcelona 2-1 at Camp Nou on 26 October, with Cucurella’s duel against Lamine Yamal one of the subplots of the night. On the Spain camp microphone this week, the defender declined to savour it, saying he prefers to stay quiet and do his job.
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