Fede Valverde heads into the 2026/27 season with Real Madrid with a microscope on him, as he is coming off a disastrous 2026 World Cup tournament with the Uruguay national team, failing miserably both as a player and as a leader instead of elevating things for his country.
Just as bad, Valverde is coming off a difficult season with Real Madrid in which he had some great moments and was far from the worst player on the team, but he still played below his world class talent and made more headlines for attitude issues as a captain than for actually playing well.
Florentino Perez hired Jose Mourinho to get the superstars to actually play like superstars and focus on the team, and while it was implied that Kylian Mbappe will be the main concern for Mou, Valverde is another player Perez and the club are hoping the Portuguese manager can get back on track.
Fede Valverde is staying humble
Before the season gets under way, it sounds like Fede Valverde is ready to be on the same page as Mourinho and learn from the legendary manager. He told reporters during the preseason, via Madrid Xtra, “I'm eager to learn from Mourinho, to try and listen to every piece of advice he gives me. To get the most out of every second, every minute of training I get to share with him and his coaching staff. I'm going to try to learn and grow as a footballer and as a person. I think he's a special person from whom I can learn a lot.”
That is exaclty the mentality Fede needs to have going into the fresh season. It is a new day for both him and Real Madrid, and Fede, in particular, has to be humbled. Whereas Vinicius Junior, Marc Cucurella, Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappe, and so many other key players at Real Madrid had fantastic World Cup tournaments, Fede was beyond horrible, and it is a coin flip between him and Bruno Fernandes as to who was the biggest flop of the entire tournament.
So there is no room for ego or for Fede to go into the 2026/27 season thinking that he is a big shot and owed anything. He is ready to humble himself before Mourinho, and that is exactly the kind of attitude and character that the treble winner at Inter Milan wants to see from his players, especially after two seasons and zero trophies.
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