Real Madrid have been THE biggest buyers in the summer 2026 transfer window thus far, as Jose Mourinho is making recommendations to president Florentino Perez, who is quickly turning around and bringing those stars in for the Portuguese manager to rebuild Madrid into yearly Champions League winners.
Los Blancos have already brought in three defensive players in Denzel Dumfries, Ibrahima Konate, and Marc Cucurella, and they also signed veteran free agent Bernardo Silva from Manchester City, solely at Mourinho's request.
Mourinho still wants more midfielders to overhaul a position that has struggled, especially since the departures of club legends Toni Kroos and Luka Modric. Right now, Mourinho has his biggest designs on two players: West Ham United breakout star and Portuguese midfielder Mateus Fernandes and former Argentina World Cup winner Enzo Fernandez of Chelsea (and Benfica) fame.
Real Madrid are ready to be ruthless
But according to a report from Jose Felix Diaz of Diario AS, via the Madrid Zone, Real Madrid are coming to a harsh realization behind the scenes. While they do want to sign a blockbuster Premier League midfielder like a Fernandes or Fernandez, they believe they will have to sacrifice a current midfielder and sell a big name player.
The two names that jump out are Eduardo Camavinga and Aurelien Tchouameni, and given the profiles of defensive midfielders and 6 or 8 hybrids that Jose Mourinho is recommending to Florentino Perez like Mateus Fernandes, you have to wonder if the new Real Madrid manager really rates the Frenchmen at all.
They are good players, but they are far from great and have shown frustratingly little to no growth over the years. Camavinga has regressed since being an X-Factor in his first season in 2021/22 when Real Madrid won the Champions League again, and Tchouameni has been a huge waste of 80 million euros, falling well short of the expectations of replacing club legend Casemiro, who has been outplaying him at Manchester United despite his age.
Real Madrid are going to have to sell someone who will fetch a big fee and sell someone who gets significant minutes in order to convince someone like Enzo Fernandez or another top midfielder to join them over another great club instead.
Florentino gets attached to some of his players, and Eduardo Camavinga and Aurelien Tchouameni seem like nice guys. But Mourinho wants to win above all else, and though he is more of a grandfatherly figure these days, nothing steps in between Flo and winning either.
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