MADRID - Real Madrid on Thursday said Jose Mourinho would return to coach the club should its longtime president Florentino Perez win reelection.

It made its statement ​after Portuguese media expressed doubts about the authenticity of a video ‌shared by Perez's team that appeared to show Mourinho confirming the move.

Asked about the veracity of the video, which featured a smiling Mourinho in a Real Madrid shirt saying: "Yes!", ​a spokesperson for Perez's reelection campaign, Jesus Bengoechea, told Reuters: "The video ​is authentic and was recorded."

Mourinho's spokespeople did not respond to requests ⁠for comment.

The video was posted on social media by Perez's office and ​was screened on prime-time television in Spain on Wednesday, but media in Mourinho's ​home country of Portugal, where he coaches Benfica, raised doubts that the footage of him was AI-generated.

Unable to confirm the video's authenticity, Reuters decided to withdraw its text and video ​stories earlier on Thursday.

Reuters' Visual Verification Team analyzed the video using five separate ​AI detection tools, but their results were inconclusive.

Perez's campaign team posted the clip on X ‌again ⁠on Thursday evening as the conclusion of a video montage entitled Mourinho, next Real Madrid coach that showed the Portuguese national in action on the sidelines and in post-game interviews.

Real Madrid and Mourinho's current club Benfica declined to comment on ​the video, though ​Benfica said in ⁠a separate statement that any move by Perez to appoint Mourinho would require payment of 15 million euros ($17.4 million) to terminate ​his contract.

Perez, the 79-year-old Real boss, is facing the ​first challenge ⁠to his presidency in 20 years from Spanish renewable energy tycoon Enrique Riquelme.

Riquelme has promised to turn the club's training ground into a social hub with facilities including ⁠a ​hotel, swimming pools, a gym, and activities designed ​to bring supporters closer to a club he says has drifted away from them.