Jose Mourinho's Return: Real Madrid's Squad Transformation

Jose Mourinho finally gets his team back.

After weeks of patchwork sessions and academy experiments at Valdebebas, Real Madrid’s manager will walk onto the training pitch on Monday and, at last, see the squad he was hired to command. The World Cup hangover is over. The real work starts now.

World champions, galácticos and first days at school

Five names change everything: Marc Cucurella, Kylian Mbappé, Aurélien Tchouameni, Ibrahima Konaté and Jude Bellingham. All are due to report as Madrid enter the fifth week of their pre-season, all fresh from extended breaks after deep World Cup runs.

They will begin with the usual medical checks, the quiet, clinical prelude to a noisy season. Then comes the first real session with Mourinho.

For two of them, it is more than a return. It is a beginning.

Cucurella arrives as a newly crowned world champion with Spain and as one of the headline signings of Madrid’s summer. He steps into Valdebebas not just with a medal, but with the weight of expectation that comes with it. Konaté, signed earlier in the window, will now start to learn Mourinho’s defensive language, the nuances and demands of a coach who has built his reputation on back lines that do not bend.

Mbappé and Bellingham, the faces of Madrid’s present and future, rejoin a dressing room that has been grinding through pre-season without them. Tchouameni, a pillar of the midfield, returns to a department that has been the subject of debate all summer.

The cast is finally assembled.

Time short, demands high

There is a catch. Those five are behind the rest of the group in terms of rhythm and sharpness. Extended holidays after a gruelling World Cup have their cost, and Mourinho knows it.

His first challenge is a delicate one: get them ready, fast, without breaking them.

Madrid still have two serious tests on the horizon before La Liga begins. Deportivo La Coruña await in the Teresa Herrera Trophy on 12 August, a traditional but still meaningful date on the Spanish calendar. Then comes a trip to Germany to face Schalke 04 on 16 August.

These are not just friendlies anymore. They are laboratories. They are where Mbappé, Bellingham, Cucurella, Konaté and Tchouameni must climb from holiday legs to match legs, where Mourinho can start to see combinations, partnerships, automatisms.

He does not have long. Real Madrid open their league campaign against Espanyol on 22 August. Just under two weeks to integrate five returning internationals, blend them with the players who have been sweating through July, and carve out something that looks like a first-choice XI.

Mourinho’s second Madrid: questions and pressure

This is the point in pre-season when ideas harden into plans. Until now, Mourinho’s Madrid has been more sketch than painting. Some patterns have emerged, some hints of shape and intention, but nothing definitive.

Now, with his squad almost complete, excuses evaporate.

There is also the shadow of recent years. For all the aura around his name, Mourinho has not dominated the European landscape in his latest jobs. The narrative around him has shifted from inevitable winner to something more uncertain.

At Real Madrid, uncertainty does not live long. The atmosphere can flip from indulgent to unforgiving in a handful of matches. He knows that. The board knows that. So do the players.

This return is not about nostalgia. It is about proof.

A midfield left wanting – and a different kind of market move

While the squad looks imposing in many areas, one line still feels light. Madrid’s midfield plans for the summer have not fully materialised.

Rodri turned them down. Bernardo Silva has arrived, a major piece, but remains the only significant reinforcement in that sector. Beyond him, the club sees no midfielder on the market worth the price, the effort, or the disruption.

Mourinho, for his part, has publicly backed the group he has. He insists he does not need more signings. The message is clear: trust in what is there, not in what might be.

Behind that stance, though, Madrid have not stopped looking. The focus has shifted to the next wave, to players who could grow into roles rather than walk straight into them.

One name has surfaced: Sergio Martínez of Racing Santander.

Sergio Martínez: talent spotted, race complicated

According to reports in Spain, Real Madrid have been tracking the teenage midfielder, viewing him as a potential move for this summer. On paper, he ticks a lot of boxes.

He is described as a high-quality talent, strong on the ball, tactically aware, and physically equipped to impose himself in midfield. His defensive work has improved notably in recent months, making him a credible option at the base of midfield – an area where Madrid’s long-term depth is not exactly abundant.

For a club thinking about the next decade, not just the next season, Martínez looks like a smart bet.

There is a problem, though. Two, in fact.

Barcelona are currently ahead in the race, pushing hard to bring him to Catalonia. And Racing Santander, freshly armed with a renewal that runs until 2029, are in no mood to make things easy.

The club is demanding his full €3 million release clause this summer. On top of that, they want a significant sell-on percentage, a condition that complicates the economics of the deal for any big club. If Martínez never makes the jump to a first team like Madrid’s, such a structure can quickly turn into a poor piece of business.

Even if Los Blancos do decide to trigger the clause and accept Racing’s conditions, another question appears: where would he play?

A direct leap into the first team looks unlikely given the congestion and status of the current midfield. A place in Castilla is more realistic, at least initially, with the hope that he could climb the ladder in time.

Two tracks, one club

So Madrid move on two parallel tracks.

On one, Mourinho finally has his stars back, his pre-season friendlies lined up, and a ticking clock before Espanyol. The task is immediate, unforgiving and public: build a team that wins now.

On the other, the club quietly studies profiles like Sergio Martínez, trying to secure tomorrow’s midfield while juggling release clauses, sell-on demands and the ever-present threat of Barcelona.

The stadium lights will soon come on. When they do, will Mourinho’s reshaped Madrid and the club’s next generation both be ready for what this season is about to demand?