Real Madrid Pre-Season Ends with Schalke Showdown

Real Madrid’s pre-season ends in Germany on Sunday, with Jose Mourinho taking his squad to Gelsenkirchen for a final tune-up against Schalke 04 that will double as an audition, a fitness test and a first glimpse of several new faces.

Six days later, La Liga begins away to Espanyol in Barcelona. The margin for error is already thin.

Mbappé and the debut queue

Mourinho’s squad list for Germany will look different. Yan Diomande, Marc Cucurella and Ibrahima Konaté are all available and in line for their first minutes in white. None of the three has yet made a Real Madrid debut; Schalke offers a low-stakes stage before the curtain rises on the competitive season.

Kylian Mbappé is also edging into the frame. Back in training this week after his post-World Cup break, the forward could make his first appearance under the Portuguese coach in Gelsenkirchen. Even a short run-out would mark the beginning of a new era in Madrid’s attack.

The game, though, is about more than introductions. It is also about who can actually make it onto the pitch.

Bellingham and Tchouameni in limbo

The biggest doubts revolve around Jude Bellingham and Aurélien Tchouameni. According to Mundo Deportivo, both sit on the edge of the squad decision.

Bellingham returned to training on Wednesday. Mourinho now has to decide whether the England international has enough rhythm and sharpness to be involved or whether it is wiser to hold him back for Espanyol.

Tchouameni’s situation runs parallel. The French midfielder is coming back from a minor muscular issue. The expectation is that he will be ready for the league opener, but his presence against Schalke is still uncertain, and Real Madrid will not risk a setback in a friendly.

The stakes are clear. Both are central to Mourinho’s blueprint for the season.

Bellingham is set to be restored to his preferred role, operating as an attacking midfielder just behind the centre-forward, where his timing and power between the lines can dictate games. Tchouameni, by contrast, will step into a crowded battle for places in the double pivot, fighting with Federico Valverde, Bernardo Silva and Eduardo Camavinga for two starting spots.

For now, though, both remain in the “maybe” column for Germany.

Injury list grows, six to stay home

Some absences are already confirmed. Raul Asencio, Ferland Mendy, Rodrygo, Thiago Pitarch and Éder Militão will all remain in Madrid as they continue to recover from injuries. None will travel to Germany; their work is confined to the training pitches and treatment rooms at Valdebebas.

The list has just grown longer. Endrick has suffered a muscle overload and is also expected to miss the Schalke clash. It is a precaution, but an unwelcome one.

Mourinho will hope that the Brazilian teenager, along with Bellingham and Tchouameni, is fit and available when Real Madrid step out at the RCDE Stadium next week. The season’s first decisions on rotation and hierarchy will not wait.

A historic summer in La Fábrica

While the first team prepares for Schalke, another story is unfolding quietly but dramatically in the academy.

Real Madrid’s youth system has been hit by a wave of exits this summer. One after another, prospects have left Valdebebas in search of minutes, status and opportunity, and the flow shows no sign of stopping.

The next big move is expected to be Jacobo Ortega’s transfer to Strasbourg. The deal would make him the most expensive sale of a Real Madrid academy player who has never featured for the first team. It is a landmark figure and a symbol of how the club now monetises its production line.

Ortega will not be alone. Real Madrid are also preparing to approve the departures of two more highly rated youngsters.

Manuel Ángel and David Jiménez on the way out

According to AS, Manuel Ángel and David Jiménez are next in line to leave, with both players effectively at the end of their Castilla cycle.

Interest in the pair is broad and serious, stretching across the top flight, the second division and beyond. No club has yet put forward an offer decisive enough to close a deal, but the market is circling.

The club’s actions tell the story. Both players have been training separately and have been left out of Castilla’s pre-season friendlies and matchday squads. The message is clear: avoid any injury that could complicate a transfer. Their futures lie away from Valdebebas.

Once Ortega’s sale and other outgoing deals are added up, Real Madrid’s academy income this summer is expected to surpass €200 million. Internally, it is being labelled a historic window, a staggering figure that underlines both the quality of La Fábrica and the club’s willingness to cash in.

Two pillars of a treble generation

These are not fringe names. Manuel Ángel and David Jiménez were key pieces of Álvaro Arbeloa’s treble-winning academy generation, a group that also included Nico Paz and Gonzalo García.

Manuel Ángel, 22, is a cerebral midfielder who joined La Fábrica in 2014 and has long been viewed as one of the brightest talents at Valdebebas. Ambidextrous, composed and tactically sharp, he even broke into the first team towards the end of last season, making seven appearances. His next step is about one thing: finding a club that can offer him regular, meaningful minutes.

David Jiménez brings a different profile. An attacking full-back with one of the standout right feet in the academy, he has been praised for his leadership and his aggressive, forward-thinking style. Comparisons with Dani Carvajal have followed him through the ranks. He too featured for the first team last season, catching the eye under both Xabi Alonso and Arbeloa.

Now both stand at the same crossroads. Real Madrid, the players and their entourages are waiting for the right proposal, the project that convinces everyone.

As the first team closes pre-season in Gelsenkirchen and Mourinho finalises his plans, the academy continues to reshape itself in the background. The question is no longer whether La Fábrica can produce talent, but how many of those players will still be wearing white when the next generation of stars steps onto the Bernabéu pitch.