Real Madrid star center midfielder Bernardo Silva is one of the newest faces in the team, and there is already momentum building just before the 2026/27 La Liga season starts that he is going to be very important to new manager Jose Mourinho and a key starter in the team, even though many assumed he was just going to be a rotational backup as a free agent.
Mourinho is a huge fan of Silva and seems to believe he can be a key orchestrator for the team as a starting defensive midfielder. And even though Real Madrid were not convincing in a narrow 1-0 friendly win over Deportivo La Coaruna and the midifeld was poor overall, Silva was the main standout player of the match and turned a lot of heads in a positive manager.
But while Real Madrid fans are warming up to the idea of Silva, who many around the Premier League saw as washed up for Manchester City last season as they finally lost the title to Arsenal, after losing out on his teammate Rodri to rivals Barcelona this summer, Silva's increasing hype and expected importance are also a troubling sign for Real Madrid.
Real Madrid's midfield has been a huge problem
Because if Silva is standing out this much compared to the other Real Madrid midfielders after an underwhelming 2025/26 Premier League season that basically led to Manchester City letting him walk for free, then that isn't exactly a ringing endorsement for the current crop of players.
Real Madrid are increasingly unhappy with Eduardo Camavinga's lack of development, and he had another headless chicken type of game against Deportivo with a lot of empty calorie stats the result of his poor positional play and decision making off the ball.
And his countryman Aurelien Tchouameni has been just as poor these last two seasons despite being rewarded by Jose Mourinho and Real Madrid with a new contract extension this summer through the 2030/31 La Liga campaign.
Bernardo Silva is about to play a bigger role in Real Madrid than both Tchouameni and Camavinga, but that speaks to how little these two have shown. Man City didn't want Silva, but the team that Real Madrid beat in the Champions League knockouts has now given them an important starter for Jose Mourinho. And that confirms how far the standard of midfield play has fallen since the heyday of KCM at the Santiago Bernabeu. Among Fede Valverde, Tchouameni, and Camavinga, someone needs to step up - or young Thiago Pitarch has to take an even bigger leap forward early in his career.
Add us as a preferred source on Google