José Mourinho, Real Madrid’s new coach, refuted the idea of a major overhaul of the club’s squad, expressing his desire for the most important athletes to remain and be able to reverse the current phase. The Portuguese coach, known for his direct approach, stated that his priority is the integration of existing talent.
The Spanish club’s board has already announced the signing of full-back Marc Cucurella, defender Ibrahima Konaté and attacking midfielder Bernardo Silva for next season. Furthermore, President Florentino Pérez had included the arrival of Dutch winger Denzel Dumfries, from Inter Milan, among his election campaign promises.
Even occupying second place in LaLiga, the Merengue giants face intense pressure, accumulating two seasons without winning significant titles. This situation occurs despite having a squad full of stars, such as Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior, whose contract is coming to an end, and Jude Bellingham. Mourinho’s challenge is to restore the team’s brilliance without dismantling its valuable foundation.
“We shouldn’t be talking about Real Madrid, but I can address one small point,” Mourinho said in an interview with the Beast Mode On podcast. “I read some things where people said: ‘José Mourinho is coming here and he’s going to release some of the main players who supposedly had problems during the season’, but that’s not going to happen.”
“Special One” continued, making clear his intention to work with the best he has. “I want these players. I want the best. I need to find a way to form a team and not have problems like those that eventually, I don’t know, appeared in previous seasons. If you have problems with not very good players, that’s bad, but great players are great players.”
Mourinho’s arrival comes after a turbulent period for Real Madrid, which last season changed two coaches, Xabi Alonso and Álvaro Arbeloa, amid several internal conflicts in the locker room between athletes and the coaching staff. One of these conflicts resulted in the hospitalization of Federico Valverde, after an incident with Tchouaméni, highlighting the need for stability that Mourinho’s stance seeks to bring.
The Portuguese coach previously led Los Blancos between 2010 and 2013, a period in which Real Madrid competed intensely with Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona. He will officially take command of the team when the squad returns for pre-season next month.
“When I arrive at a club – from the beginning and now it’s no different – I don’t like to talk too much,” he said. “I don’t talk about myself and I don’t like to talk too much. I need to get to know the players and I want the players to know that it’s not about what people say about me, it’s about what they see in me.”
Mourinho concluded his speech with a position on the development of athletes. “We need to know each other well. And I always say: I don’t perform miracles, but I can improve the players who can be developed, those who want to evolve. With some others it’s an impossible task, you have to simply accept them as they are.”