José Mourinho Confident in Real Madrid Squad Despite Rodri Departure
José Mourinho insists his Real Madrid squad is “closed” and good enough, even without Rodri – the midfielder who slipped through their fingers and landed at Barcelona.
The Portuguese coach cut a calm figure on Tuesday as he weighed up a summer in which Madrid splashed out on six signings, including record arrival Yan Diomande, playmaker Bernardo Silva and left-back Marc Cucurella, yet still emerged light in one key area.
Rodri slips away, Mourinho shrugs
Madrid went hard for Rodri. The move collapsed. Barcelona pounced.
It leaves Silva as the only fresh face in the centre of the pitch, a curious gap for a club still trying to redraw its identity after the departures of Toni Kroos in 2024 and Luka Modric in 2025. Those exits stripped away the control that defined a decade.
Mourinho, though, refused to sound alarmed.
“For me the squad is closed, but the market is still open – you never know if a player will come and say ‘I’ve been benched twice and I want to leave,’” he told reporters. “In theory, no [more deals]… but something could always happen… In my head the squad is closed, and I have not asked for anyone. I am very happy with the players I have.”
The message was firm: no panic, no last-minute shopping list.
Scrapping for control without Kroos and Modric
On the pitch, the transition has been far less serene. Without Kroos and Modric, Madrid have laboured to dictate tempo. The opening weekend at Espanyol underlined it.
Mourinho’s side needed a late goal to scrape a 2–1 win in their La Liga opener, a result that flattered the performance more than the coach would admit. Silva and Federico Valverde started together in midfield, a pairing rich in energy and invention but still learning each other’s movements.
Control is no longer guaranteed. It has to be fought for.
Tchouameni held back
That fight will not include Aurelien Tchouameni against Real Sociedad on Wednesday. Mourinho confirmed the French defensive midfielder is not ready.
“He’s got a problem, the holiday time wasn’t enough [for him to recover], seeing the games approaching, the player wanted to try … but we’ve decided that you can’t start a season in suffering,” Mourinho explained.
“You can finish a season suffering, the last couple of months, but you can’t start in August not at 100 percent. So we decided with him, the staff, the medical department, to get him to return at 100 percent.”
No risk. No half-measures. In a season where margins will be thin, Mourinho wants Tchouameni fully fit, not patched up.
Valverde’s role, and a fluid midfield map
If Tchouameni is the anchor, Valverde is the puzzle piece that never quite stays in one place. Previous coaches used the Uruguayan everywhere – right-back, right wing, hybrid roles that blurred his identity.
Mourinho has a clearer view.
“For me he is a player for the centre of the pitch,” he said. “Depending on the opponent and our objectives, he might be more set in his position or more mobile.”
That flexibility feeds into a broader idea. The old language of numbers and rigid roles does not convince Mourinho anymore.
“I don’t want to identify Tchouameni as the No. 6, Camavinga No. 6, Fede No. 8, Bernardo No. 10 … things dilute during games.”
It is a revealing line. Madrid may have missed out on Rodri, the archetypal metronome, but Mourinho is leaning into a different vision: a midfield without strict labels, where functions shift with the rhythm of the match.
The squad, as he keeps repeating, is “closed”. The question is whether this fluid, shape-shifting version of Madrid can open up the season the way he believes it can.
