José Mourinho Predicts Bright Future for Arda Güler at Real Madrid
José Mourinho has never been shy about making big predictions, and this time he has placed Arda Güler in the company of Luka Modric and Bernardo Silva.
"I love Arda. I think something similar will happen to Arda to what happened to Luka and Bernardo: you start at the front and finish at the back," the Portuguese coach said, outlining a career path he believes the young Turk is destined to follow.
Mourinho sees a clear evolution in Güler’s game.
"You start as a number 10, as an attacking player, and end up as a number 8, then as a number 6. I believe Arda will go down that path given his development and his understanding of the game."
Güler’s new map in Madrid’s midfield
Real Madrid’s season fell short of their own standards, without the titles they had targeted. Mourinho now walks into a dressing room that needs reshaping and re-energising, with the dual task of integrating new faces and reigniting those already there.
Arda Güler sits right at the heart of that challenge.
Signed from Fenerbahce in 2023 for a hefty 28 million euros, Güler arrived as one of Europe’s brightest attacking midfield prospects. The reality since then has been more complicated. In a squad stacked with stars, he has struggled to carve out a consistent role, drifting between positions and minutes.
That, under Mourinho, is starting to look different.
With Toni Kroos and Luka Modric gone, Madrid have been left without a classic deep-lying playmaker, the kind of midfielder who dictates rhythm from the base of midfield. Their plan to fill that void with World Cup winner Rodri collapsed when the Spaniard chose Barcelona instead, leaving a strategic hole right in the middle of the pitch.
The current central options – Fede Valverde, Aurelien Tchouameni and others – bring power, range and defensive security, but none naturally fit the profile of a pure tempo-setter. That gap could become Güler’s opening.
A move from the line between the forwards into a deeper role, where he can see more of the pitch and shape the game, might be his route to regular minutes. Mourinho’s comments suggest he sees Güler not as a luxury 10, but as a future organiser, someone who can eventually slide back from 10 to 8 and, in time, to 6.
If that transition works, Madrid’s midfield could be rebuilt around a very different kind of controller.
Mourinho’s perfect fit: Bernardo Silva
Güler is not the only creative mind Mourinho is banking on. The coach also used the programme to underline just how highly he rates new signing Bernardo Silva, who chose Real Madrid despite interest from Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.
"He is a Pep Guardiola player and gives you everything. I hope we will have few problems and a lot of stability. If we have few problems and a lot of stability, then for me today Bernardo is a player for central midfield. But Bernardo can play as a number 10, on the right wing, drift inside. Bernardo can play anywhere," Mourinho said.
The message is clear: Bernardo arrives as a central piece, not a luxury wide man. His versatility gives Mourinho options across the front and in midfield, but the Portuguese coach clearly imagines him as a hub in the middle of the pitch, knitting phases together and floating into dangerous spaces.
Mourinho also stressed that the transfer was driven by football logic, not by rivalry.
"He is a player I have loved forever. It has nothing to do with Barcelona wanting him, Atletico wanting him. Nothing to do with us stealing him because our neighbour would then be sad. It was my conviction that Bernardo matches Real Madrid's level."
Between Bernardo Silva’s immediate influence and Arda Güler’s potential reinvention, Mourinho is trying to redraw Madrid’s midfield hierarchy. The only question now is how quickly Güler can grow into the deeper role his coach has already mapped out for him.
