Jose Mourinho is bringing out his greatest hits before the season has even begun.
The ‘new’ Real Madrid coach has shown little has changed since his first tenure by demanding more in the transfer market.
Madrid have already backed Mourinho with their record signing, spending an incredible €125million on Yan Diomande from Leipzig.
Fees of €55m for Marc Cucurella, €25m for Carlos Espi and €20m have made them the third highest spenders in the world this summer.
On top of that, their wage bill is bursting at the seams with free agent deals for Bernardo Silva and Ibrahima Konate, plus a lucrative new contract for Vinicius Jr.
Yet despite all of that, Mourinho isn’t quite satisfied.
Mourinho’s concerns about Bernardo’s fitness
Speaking after a 2-1 friendly win over Ferencvaros, Mourinho spoke about needing versatile cover for Bernardo Silva who featured at the World Cup.
Discussing Silva, he said: “Bernardo is very important, but the poor guy is another one who’s been on vacation.
“It’s good for his mind to do nothing during the holiday period. He showed up in significantly worse physical condition and needs to improve, but he’s a tremendous player who gives us an outlet from the back.
“During the match, I realised he was lacking physical strength, so I brought on Cestero to provide a bit more stability.”
Mourinho wants more signings
He added: “It’s a squad we want to keep small, with 20 players plus those injured who will be out for a while, like Rodrygo, Militao, or Mendy, whom I don’t expect to have back in the coming weeks.
“And in a small squad of 20, we also need a player who can do what Bernardo does, which is play in several positions.”
Mourinho then went on to speak about possibly the biggest signing of the summer, Vinicius’ renewal.
He said: “The most important thing is Vinicius’ contract renewal. For him, obviously, but it’s a joy for all of us.
“He and Bernardo have had little training. They’re players who, like the others a couple of weeks ago, go into the game already tired and feel the work we’ve done in their legs.
“That’s why I didn’t expect Vini to take the ball today, run 50 meters with it, and score a goal.
“It’s a process: he’ll surely be better on Wednesday than he was today, and even better next Sunday in Gelsenkirchen.”
Leave a Reply