Real Madrid Prepares for 2026-27 Season with Mourinho

Real Madrid head into the 2026-27 season with the familiar buzz of expectation and a few nagging questions. The curtain goes up on Saturday against Espanyol, and Jose Mourinho’s second era at the Bernabeu already has a clear shape – even if one key piece is still missing.

His first pre-season back in Madrid has been productive rather than perfect. The squad looks deeper, more balanced in several areas. Real have moved decisively in the market to bring in Denzel Dumfries, Marc Cucurella and Yan Diomande, plugging gaps and refreshing a dressing room that needed new energy.

One role, though, remains unresolved.

Mourinho wanted a midfield metronome, a controller to anchor his side. Enzo Fernandez was on the list. So was Rodri. Both slipped away, leaving Madrid without the specialist they had earmarked for the heart of the pitch. That failure is likely to push Mourinho towards an internal solution instead of a late scramble in the market.

And that is where Arda Güler steps into the conversation.

The Portuguese coach, speaking to El Chiringuito (via Diario AS), made it clear he sees a different future for the Türkiye international than the one many expected. Güler arrived as a classic No.10, a silky creator between the lines. Mourinho sees something else brewing.

"I love Güler. I think something similar is going to happen to Modric or Bernardo Silva. You start in one position and end up in another, you start as a 10 and you will finish as an 8 or 6. I think Arda will go in that direction with his evolution and knowledge of the game."

It is a revealing comparison. Luka Modric and Bernardo Silva both reinvented themselves, drifting from advanced roles into deeper, more influential stations, dictating tempo rather than merely decorating attacks. Mourinho clearly believes Güler has the intelligence and technical range to follow that same path.

This is not an overnight switch, though. Güler is unlikely to be dropped straight into the pivot when the season kicks off. For now, the deeper creative role is being prepared for another of Mourinho’s key men: Bernardo Silva himself.

The Portuguese star is being lined up as the player to knit Madrid’s midfield together, offering control, rhythm and pressing intensity from a slightly withdrawn position. Mourinho has spoken in glowing terms about his compatriot, underlining that Silva’s arrival is about footballing substance, not political point-scoring in Spain’s eternal triangle.

Any suggestion that Silva was signed primarily to land a blow on Barcelona or Atletico Madrid has been brushed aside by the coach. In his eyes, Silva “brings everything” – the work rate, the vision, the tactical versatility – that this evolving Real Madrid midfield needs.

So Madrid enter the new campaign with an unfinished puzzle that still looks ominously strong. Bernardo Silva as the immediate brain of the operation, Arda Güler being groomed as the long-term heir to that role, and Mourinho once again reshaping a squad in his own image as Espanyol wait on opening day.