Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho still wants to sign more players at the club to build the spine of a team that has looked rather spineless these last two seasons with Barcelona taking home the La Liga trophy both times under a carousel of three managers.
So far, Real Madrid have brought in four new faces for Mourinho: center back Ibrahima Konate, right back Denzel Dumfries, center midfielder Bernardo Silva, and left back Marc Cucurella. It is not easy for someone to become a part of the untouchable core of Madrid players, but already, one of them is in that bracket.
According to a report from Diario AS, via the Madrid Zone, there are six players at Real Madrid who are deemed guaranteed starters by the club. Thibaut Courtois in goal is obviously one of them, as are Fede Valverde and Jude Bellingham in midfield, and Vinicius Junior and Kylian Mbappe in the attack. These five players are world class and have all either won the Champions League or the World Cup in their careers.
Jose Mourinho loves Marc Cucurella
But there is one other, more surprising, name in the mix to make it six, and that is the new left back Marc Cucurella. Out of all the signings, Cucurella was the most expensive at 60 million euros from Chelsea, and he was the player Jose Mourinho demanded the hardest for Florentino Perez to sign, stating that it was alway Cucurella and only Cucurella to be an essential fit in his system.
Real Madrid have been desperate for a top left back ever since Marcelo's decline, with Ferland Mendy briefly filling the void before becoming totally unreliable due to injuries. Cucurella is not as stalwart in the tackle, but his intensity makes him at least as good defensively - and he is obviously at a much higher technical level on the ball.
Alvaro Carreras cost 50 million euros last summer but already looks like a transfer flop, and it is surprising that Mourinho wanted to give him another chance after his attitude problems in 2025/26 caused a lot of headaches for Alvaro Arbeloa, who is one of the nicest managers imaginable.
Mourinho is going to ride the Cucurella gravy train at left back this season, and he is going to be the perfect player to unleash the attacking prowess of both Vinicius Junior and then Trent Alexander-Arnold on the opposite side. Tactically, you can see why Cucu is untouchable.
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