The Portuguese has not yet set foot in Valdebebas and there are already movements. This is how the new Real Madrid that The Special One wants to build will look.
When Mourinho first arrived in Madrid in 2010, he left a phrase that perfectly summarised his philosophy: “I am in charge here.” He didn’t say it literally, of course, but it was understood from day one. Now, thirteen years later, the context is different but the script has a familiar ring. A broken locker room, a season without titles, a fight resulting in hospitalisation, and a fanbase demanding answers. This is fertile ground for Mourinho to pull out his notebook and start underlining.
Because the Portuguese is not here to warm the bench. He is here to shake the foundations. And there are already four decisions that, according to everything leaking from the club's environment, will be immediate.
The four measures that no one in the locker room expected so soon
1. Cleaning up the midfield: out with those who don’t contribute
Mourinho's first major operation will be surgical and it will hurt. The Real Madrid midfield is, as of today, a literal battlefield. The fight between Fede Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni, with fines of 500,000 euros for each and a diagnosis of cranioencephalic trauma in the mix, has made it clear that there is a problem of coexistence that goes beyond football.
Mourinho has already requested to have a say in departures, and the names being mentioned are the usual ones: Valverde, Tchouaméni, Ceballos, and Camavinga, all of them with uncertain futures. Not because they are bad players, but because the Portuguese coach needs to build a locker room in his image, without sources of tension or impossible balances. And with the arrival of Rodri Hernández as the first major signing of the project, the space for some of them disappears entirely.
2. Rodri Hernández as the first signing, not a whim
Mourinho's desire for Rodri Hernández is not a summer rumour: it is the operation that articulates the entire project. The Manchester City midfielder represents exactly the profile the coach has been searching for years without finding since Toni Kroos and Luka Modric opened the exit door. A deep-lying playmaker, with character, physicality, and the ability to impose order in a team that has completely lost its way this season.
The operation is not straightforward. City does not give away its key players, and Rodri's renewal remains an open topic. But from the white camp, work is already underway, and Mourinho has given his explicit approval for the operation, something that according to Carrusel Deportivo was almost an indispensable condition for finalising his return to the Bernabéu.
3. A tough stance on privileges: the Mbappé case on the table
Here lies the biggest headache that Mourinho inherits. Kylian Mbappé enters this new cycle with a complicated record: his getaway to Sardinia with Ester Expósito during his recovery process, his absence in the Clásico, and the image of him watching the 2-0 from home while posting photos on social media have severely damaged his relationship with the fans.
Mourinho has already experienced something similar in his first spell: untouchable players due to their status, name, or contract. His response then was to bench them. He did it with world-class figures without blinking. The question now is whether he will apply the same logic with the Frenchman, whose exit seems almost impossible financially, but whose privileged position in the locker room can be curtailed. The coach wants a team where effort matters more than the name, and Mbappé knows perfectly well that this affects him.
4. Restoring the culture of daily work in Valdebebas
This is the least flashy measure but probably the most important. Real Madrid has lost more than just points this season: it has lost its attitude. The image of the team in the Clásico at Camp Nou, with a 2-0 scoreline that allowed no excuses, was the summary of a squad without soul and cohesion.
Mourinho arrives with the explicit intention of changing the internal dynamics of the locker room from day one of pre-season. More intensity in training, more demands, and a clear hierarchy that does not depend on contracts but on performance. He did it at Inter, where he built one of the most cohesive teams in Europe starting from a locker room with considerable egos. And he repeated it, with its ups and downs, in his first Madrid stint.
The Mourinho of 2026 is not the same, but the method is
Some say Mourinho has changed. That his time at Roma, Tottenham, and Benfica has made him more measured, more reflective. Perhaps. But his method has not changed: compact groups, clear hierarchies, collective sacrifice above individualities, and zero tolerance for those who are not fully committed.
Real Madrid in 2026 needs exactly that. And Florentino Pérez, who has endured an entire season watching his team crumble in real time, has decided that the solution has a name. The Portuguese has a two-year contract, a squad to overhaul, and a fanbase that has been waiting for months for someone to take charge.
He already has the hammer in hand. Now all that’s left is for him to start using it.
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