Jose Mourinho's Pre-Season Challenge at Real Madrid
Jose Mourinho has spent most of his first pre-season back at Real Madrid coaching a team that did not really exist.
The badge was the same. The training ground was the same. But the core of his new Madrid – the World Cup contingent and the headline signings – were scattered across the globe, then on holiday, while he pieced together sessions with understudies and academy hopefuls like Alexis Ciria.
That changes on Monday.
The band finally gets together
According to reports in Spain, the last five World Cup returnees – Marc Cucurella, Kylian Mbappé, Aurélien Tchouameni, Ibrahima Konaté and Jude Bellingham – are due back at Valdebebas as Madrid enter the fifth week of their summer work.
Medical tests first, then straight into Mourinho’s orbit.
For Cucurella and Konaté, it will be a first real taste of life as Real Madrid players. The left-back arrives as a freshly crowned world champion with Spain and one of the club’s marquee additions of the window. Konaté, signed to bring steel and mobility at the back, now starts the process of being drilled into Mourinho’s defensive structure.
Mbappé and Bellingham return as the attacking pillars of this new project. Tchouameni, still central to Madrid’s long-term midfield, must quickly reconnect with a group that has evolved in his absence.
The holidays are over. So are the excuses.
Race against the calendar
Those five are behind the rest in rhythm. The World Cup run bought them time off; it also cost them minutes in Mourinho’s system.
His challenge is classic pre-season tightrope: push them hard enough to be ready for competition, not so hard that the season starts with muscle injuries and regrets. There is no luxury of a slow build. La Liga waits for no one.
Madrid still have two serious tune-ups before the real thing. Deportivo La Coruña in the Teresa Herrera Trophy on 12 August. Schalke 04 in Germany on 16 August.
These are not just commercial dates on a calendar. They are Mourinho’s best chance to give Mbappé, Bellingham, Cucurella, Konaté and Tchouameni meaningful minutes together, to test combinations, to hear how the team sounds with something close to his intended XI on the pitch.
Until now, pre-season line-ups have offered hints rather than answers. Patterns without a full cast.
Mourinho’s second Madrid, still a mystery
This is the point where the mask should start to come off. How will Mourinho’s Madrid look in his second stint? Compact and counter-punching as in his first spell, or adapted to a squad built to dominate the ball?
So far, nobody can say with certainty.
What is clear is the context. Mourinho returns with his aura dimmed by recent years in which he has not dominated the European scene as he once did. At Real Madrid, that matters. The Bernabéu has a short memory and a shorter patience span.
He needs a strong start. Not for his reputation elsewhere, but for his survival here.
Real Madrid open their La Liga campaign against Espanyol on 22 August. That gives Mourinho just under two weeks from the return of his last World Cup players to shape, sharpen and decide. Two weeks to settle on a spine, to pick who lives in his preferred XI and who waits for scraps.
In this club, the mood can flip from indulgent to unforgiving in a handful of games.
A midfield left wanting
While the squad finally comes together on the pitch, the picture off it is less complete, especially in midfield.
Real Madrid went after Rodri. He said no. Bernardo Silva has arrived and stands as the only truly significant reinforcement in that area. For a club used to hoarding elite midfielders, the summer feels light.
The expectation now is that there will be no more big-name arrivals in the middle of the park. The market has not offered a profile the club consider worth the financial and political effort.
Mourinho, for his part, insists he has enough. He has publicly backed the squad at his disposal and dismissed the need for more signings. Whether that is conviction or pragmatism, the season will expose.
Behind the scenes, though, Madrid are not standing still. If they are not buying established stars, they are studying the next generation.
Eyes on Sergio Martinez – and a battle with Barcelona
One name has surfaced: Sergio Martinez of Racing Santander.
The teenager, followed closely by the club, is viewed as a high-level talent. Technically clean, with tight ball control and a calm reading of the game, he also brings the physical profile to hold his own in midfield. Recently, he has taken a clear step forward defensively, convincing observers he can operate as a genuine defensive midfielder.
For Madrid, that matters. The squad lacks depth in that specific role. As a long-term investment, Martinez fits the model: young, malleable, and with the tools to grow into a position the club has struggled to fully secure.
There is a catch. Two, in fact.
Barcelona are currently leading the race. They have moved earlier and are, for now, ahead of Madrid in the player’s mind and in the talks.
And Racing Santander are proving stubborn. Having recently renewed Martinez’s contract until 2029, they are pointing to his €3 million release clause and refusing to budge. On top of that, they want a substantial sell-on percentage, a condition that eats into the upside for any buying club if the player does not make the first-team grade quickly.
For Madrid, that complicates the equation. Pay the clause and accept a heavy future cut, or walk away from a player they rate in a position they need?
Even if Los Blancos do strike a deal, there is another decision waiting. Martinez would almost certainly start with Castilla, not the senior side, given the lack of available spots in Mourinho’s first-team squad. The path would be long, the margin for error slim.
Two weeks to set a tone
So Mourinho enters a crucial fortnight with his squad finally reunited, his midfield still one body light at the top level, and a classic Madrid dilemma on the table: invest in tomorrow, or double down on today.
The friendlies will show us shapes and partnerships. The Espanyol opener will show us something more important.
How quickly can Jose Mourinho turn this collection of champions, returning heroes and new faces into a team that looks, feels and behaves like Real Madrid?
