Jose Mourinho has been running the show at Real Madrid this summer, as Florentino Perez has given the Portuguese manager unprecedented control over signings with the ability to sign and even sell players as he pleases.
So far, Real have not made any sales, but they have made about a handful of high profile signings at the behest of the new manager. In addition to the free agent addition of Ibrahima Konate, Mourinho specifically requested the signings of Marc Cucurella, Denzel Dumfries, and Bernardo Silva - and so they were done.
In his first game of the 2026 World Cup for Portugal against underrated upstarts DR Congo, Silva looked every bit like a player Manchester City were all too happy to let walk away as a free agent, with Real Madrid fans having noted that he looked finished when the Merengues and Citizens battled head to head in the Champions League knockout stages.
Jose Mourinho's choice and nobody else's
Silva was horrendous. His touches were poor, and he was physically slow and weak, bullied off the ball by the DR Congo defenders with relative ease. He did not look like he belonged on the pitch and was legitimately the worst player for either team in this World Cup group stage encounter. His most notable action of the match was a yellow card, the result of a clumsy tackle after he had been embarrassed by a poor touch.
Real Madrid will have to watch closely as Silva's tournament develops, but he is already looking like a potential transfer bust on a high salary. Although Madridistas are happy to back Jose Mourinho with players he likes and Bernardo Silva used to be world class, he hasn't been at the elite level since Man City won the treble in the 2022/23 season; it's been three years since then.
Furthermore, Florentino Perez had so many chances to sign Silva over the years, including when he was closer to the tail end of his prime. All those years, Perez rejected the player. And now, all of a sudden, Real Madrid signed him because Mourinho wanted him.
In fairness, Atletico Madrid and Barcelona were also very close to signing Silva before Real Madrid stepped in, and it says something that Silva immediately abandoned those two clubs to join Los Merengeus instead. But even though Silva works hard and is a good character, he has really hit a wall as an athlete, and DR Congo exposed that badly on Wednesday.
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