Many pundits assumed that new Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho would have it out for Eduardo Camavinga and ostracize him like he did Henrik Mkhiataryan at Manchester United and so many other players who would not leave for the Portuguese manager to sign a better player, but that has not been the case at all to start the 2026/27 La Liga season.
After slowly improving under Mourinho in the preseason matches, Camavinga drew a surprise start against Malaga on Sunday in the league, and he was quite impressive, standing out as one of the better players on the pitch in a 4-0 win.
His defending was phenomenal and his passing was crisp, and while Camavinga did have a couple of bad plays in which he switched off inexplicably, with fans meming that he either has ADHD or is actually being controlled by someone on a joystick somewhere that got disconnected, that was nothing that his teammates like Jude Bellingham could not make up for with their own efforts.
Consistency has evaded Eduardo Camavinga
Jose Mourinho even singed the praises of the formerly wanted away midfielder after the game, actually acknowledging that Camavinga is shining despite being unloved. And it seems as though Cama will have a key spot in the rotation, regardless of whether or not Mourinho wanted to sign Enzo Fernandez or Rodri instead.
But Eduardo Camavinga still has to prove that he can be "on" every single time Mourinho and Real Madrid count on him, especially defensively. He has a lot to prove in terms of consistency in those important games, not just playing great once a month against a team like Malaga or, say, Racing Santander.
Everyone knows the talent that Camavinga has on paper. He was one of Florentino Perez's big obsessions alongside Kylian Mbappe, actually joining Real Madrid in 2021 the same summer they tried to bag Mbappe for 200 million euros from PSG. And the former Rennes phenom ended up being a crucial reason why Real Madrid won the Champions League that season over PSG and the others.
Camavinga will not be a starter for Real Madrid this season, but as we saw against Malaga, he will start games. And if he can develop consistency each time Mourinho calls his name with better defending and fewer mental errors, then he will generate even more starts and get closer to fulfilling his true potential in the Spanish capital as a top class midfielder.
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