Real Madrid 2026-27 preview: Why has Jose Mourinho been sleeping at the training ground?

After going two seasons without a major trophy, Real Madrid restored Jose Mourinho as manager and have backed him with their biggest summer spend since 2019.

Madrid also turned to the Portuguese coach the last time they finished consecutive campaigns with no silverware.

When he arrived for his first spell at the club in 2010, he had just led Inter to a European treble. His appointment this time around was more surprising, and the 63-year-old, who was at Benfica last term, has a big job ahead.

The Athletic looks forward to the new season — which for Madrid starts with a trip to Espanyol in La Liga on Saturday.

What are the expectations inside the club?

At Real Madrid, demands are always high.

Both Mourinho and the club believe they have a team capable of competing for every trophy: La Liga, the Copa del Rey, the Supercopa de Espana and the Champions League. Their view is that every position is covered by at least two players.

Who have they signed?

Real Madrid have committed around €250million (£214m; $292m) on reinforcements: Denzel Dumfries from Inter (€25m); Ibrahima Konate (free transfer); Marc Cucurella from Chelsea (€55m plus €5m in add-ons); Bernardo Silva (free transfer); Yan Diomande from RB Leipzig (€125m plus €15m in add-ons, which would make him Madrid’s record signing) and Carlos Espi from Levante (€25m).

Madrid and Mourinho had agreed on the need to improve the squad with a second-choice right-back to provide competition for Trent Alexander-Arnold, at least one dominant centre-back, a starting left-back and a creative midfielder.

Although it was not a priority, Mourinho also fancied having a ‘pure No 9’. To accommodate this, Gonzalo Garcia left to join Alvaro Arbeloa’s Fulham, and Espi was brought in.

Diomande was signed to boost the team’s attacking threat down the right, as it had been heavily concentrated on the opposite flank where Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham all shine. One of the biggest developments was Vinicius Jr renewing his deal, amid interest from Arsenal, until 2032.

What is their transfer priority before the window closes?

Despite being happy with what he has, Mourinho is still keen for the club to sign another centre-back and another midfielder.

Madrid’s message, as also stated in internal meetings, is that the 25 senior squad places available under La Liga’s regulations are filled. Academy graduate Thiago Pitarch, who turned 19 this month, has been promoted from the reserves team and is listed on the club’s website as part of the first-team midfield.

For a new player to join, ideally someone else would need to leave. Madrid have potential targets on their radar should this situation arise.

What else is new?

Following an in-depth review, with Mourinho heavily involved across many departments to identify past successes and mistakes, changes have been made since his appointment was made official on June 11.

Mourinho has brought in seven specialists, some from his previous job at Benfica.

Joao Tralhao will again be his assistant coach, and Pedro Machado has also followed from Lisbon. Former Germany midfielder Sami Khedira, who played under Mourinho at Madrid during the manager’s first spell from 2010 to 2013, is a new addition. It is the 39-year-old’s first coaching job.

Sami Khedira played three seasons under Jose Mourinho at Madrid before leaving in 2015 (Christof Koepsel/Getty Images)

Nuno Santos is the new goalkeeping coach, Antonio Dias the new fitness coach — although he will work alongside Antonio Pintus. Sandro Carrico is in sports sciences and Roberto Merella is head analyst.

The medical department has also seen changes in response to the injuries suffered in recent seasons. Felipe Segura, who had replaced Niko Mihic as head of medical services in November 2023 before being sidelined in December 2025 by Mihic himself, has now left. Manuel Arroyo, who joined in 2025, has resigned, while Alexandre Creuze, formerly at Monaco, has been hired.

Physiotherapist Jose Carlos Parrales and fitness coach Sebastien Devillaz have left, too. Alongside Guillermo Zurdo, Devillaz was the person closest to Mbappe on a day-to-day basis. This summer, after leaving Madrid, he worked with the Frenchman individually during his holidays.

Who’s been the best player in pre-season?

Arda Guler’s performances have sparked an intriguing debate. With Mbappe, Bellingham, Vinicius Jr and Diomande all expected starters, where can he fit in?

The 21-year-old Turkey midfielder has Mourinho’s backing, and he is also regarded by Madrid’s board as key to giving structure and direction to the team’s play with his touch, vision and great connection with Mbappe.

What are they worried about?

One of Mourinho’s main objectives is to foster a better daily culture, with greater competitiveness and harmony — while also producing better results.

Madrid were left with no real chance of winning La Liga months before the end of last season. Club sources — speaking anonymously as they did not have permission to comment — believe this had an impact on the tensions that grew behind the scenes. Those tensions came to the fore in the training ground fight between Aurelien Tchouameni and Federico Valverde, days before El Clasico in May.

When asked about those tensions in his pre-match press conference on Friday, Mourinho said: “If you see it now, you can’t even imagine what happened last season. What I’ve seen isn’t even peace — it’s friendship, cooperation. It’s as if nothing had happened.”

How’s the manager feeling?

Sources close to Mourinho say he is very excited about this second chapter.

He feels he has a very good staff to work alongside the people who were already at Madrid and a squad to develop this new project.

Might Arda Guler finally get his big Madrid breakthrough this season? (Christian Bruna/Getty Images)

Mourinho has been fully committed, even sleeping at the training ground on a few occasions to make sure he has time for all the tasks he has wanted to achieve. He is fully up to speed with everything across all departments, as he liked to be during his previous spell. He also slept at Benfica’s training ground sometimes last season.

What’s the percentage chance of Mourinho seeing out the season?

After making Mourinho their third managerial appointment in just over a year back in June, everyone will be hoping he can bring more stability and success.

As Xabi Alonso and Arbeloa found out, good results and competing for silverware matter most at Real Madrid, a club who have never shied away from ruthless decisions.

I wouldn’t be surprised if…

Guler becomes a regular by Christmas at the expense of one of the team’s ‘undisputed’ starters.

He is seen internally as very important to the team and to the club, so there could be a point where Mourinho sees the need to put more faith in him, even if that means a more senior player losing some of the spotlight.

What is their strongest XI?

On Friday, when asked about his starting XI against Espanyol, Mourinho joked with reporters: “Let’s see who has the best contact. The players already know who’s playing. I’m not someone who hides things. Maybe in a couple of hours your information will arrive, but I’m not going to tell you. But to answer your question about whether I have an ideal XI: I don’t have one, or I don’t want to have one.”

Regardless, here is what we think is Madrid’s strongest team for the start of the season: