Real Madrid convincingly beat Malaga 4-0 on Sunday, making it three wins from three in the new La Liga season under returning manager Jose Mourinho.
It is still very early days in his second spell in charge, and there will be much bigger tests to come domestically and in the Champions League, but the clear signs of progress following the club’s big summer rebuild are being celebrated around the Bernabeu.
Six additions have been made since the end of 2025-26, when Madrid finished a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy.
Marc Cucurella arrived from Chelsea for €60million (£51.7m; $69.4m) at left-back, former Liverpool centre-back Ibrahima Konate joined as a free agent after his Anfield contract expired, right-back Denzel Dumfries came in for €20m from Inter, midfielder Bernardo Silva was another free transfer following the end of his Manchester City deal, winger Yan Diomande signed for up to a club-record €140m from RB Leipzig and striker Carlos Espi was bought from Levante for €25m.
According to sources close to Mourinho — speaking anonymously as they did not have permission to comment, like all those consulted for this article — each of those transfers had his approval. They also note that he would have liked another centre-back and another midfielder. Rodri of City was targeted in the latter case, but the 30-year-old Spain captain chose to move to Barcelona.
Senior sources at Madrid insist there will be no further moves in this transfer window.
Those same sources previously indicated that only a major sale would change that outlook — and there is little sign of that happening before the deadline tomorrow (Tuesday) night. The club have been open to offers for defender Raul Asencio and midfielder Eduardo Camavinga — but both have shown they want to stay and compete for a place.
On the possibility of further additions, Mourinho has repeatedly said in public that he is satisfied with what is at his disposal. In a pre-match press conference earlier this month, he said he would rather have a “short squad” of about “20 players” plus “the unfortunate ones we have injured for some time — (Eder) Militao, (Ferland) Mendy, Rodrygo.”
After scoring a superb solo goal against Malaga, Jude Bellingham told Madrid’s in-house media: “We have a very strong squad, a great team with quality in every position. And when the manager wants to make changes, the players who didn’t play the other day are smart, and that’s why they play so well today.”
Bellingham opened the scoring on Sunday with a great solo goal (Angel Martinez/Getty Images)
Across these first three games, Mourinho has established a spine of six starters: Thibaut Courtois in goal; Dean Huijsen at centre-back; Federico Valverde as the holding midfielder; Bellingham as the attacking midfielder; Vinicius Junior on the left wing and Kylian Mbappe up front. The other positions are defined by competition.
Madrid’s depth was on display last night, with Mourinho making five changes: Trent Alexander-Arnold got his first start of the season, replacing Dumfries at right-back; Antonio Rudiger came in for Konate at right centre-back; Cucurella made his first start at left-back as Alvaro Carreras dropped out, and in midfield Camavinga came in for Bernardo while Brahim Diaz replaced Arda Guler.
Any concerns about continuity or cohesion quickly went out the window. Instead, the reshuffle helped raise Madrid’s level.
At his pre-Malaga press conference, Mourinho said “structural changes” such as switching to three at the back or playing “Espi and Kylian” up front might “concern” him, but rotation did not, adding: “The difference between playing Carreras and Cucurella is not dramatic for me.”
The expectation is that he will regularly rotate in defence, where Madrid have several options, although injuries have reduced that depth for the moment. Militao is expected to return from a hamstring injury in September or October, while Asencio could come back from the same complaint slightly later.
In midfield, Madrid have performed well so far, and Camavinga (who played the full game yesterday) had a good spell against Malaga and was praised by his manager.
However, even with Aurelien Tchouameni soon to return from what staff sources say has been a groin problem, the feeling remains that Madrid are missing a controlling presence in the centre of the pitch, a profile that has not been addressed since the departures of Toni Kroos in summer 2024 and Luka Modric a year later.
Madrid have, however, added a dynamic and versatile player in Bernardo. He has already shown that he can play a key role in build-up, particularly in the 4-1 home win against Real Sociedad on Wednesday.
Guler is another consideration here. He has made an excellent start to the season and against Malaga had only been on the field for five minutes before scoring a 91st-minute goal from a counter-attack he launched himself. But Mourinho has said he does not see the 21-year-old Turkey international as ready to play in a deep-lying role, and that he remains in a process of development.
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Bellingham, in contrast, looks like being the axis for much of Madrid’s play, albeit from a more attacking position. If he is unavailable for any reason, they might struggle to find a similar solution.
There are fewer questions about the planning in attack, where it is difficult to imagine a greater concentration of sheer talent. In fact, there could be too many options, given that Endrick is staying after January’s loan to Lyon and there will, in theory, be seven players (Mbappe, Vinicius Jr, Diomande, Brahim, Espi, Endrick and, when fit, Rodrygo) competing for three positions.
The expected preferred combination of Vinicius Jr on the left, Mbappe up front, Diomande on the right and Bellingham in a central role has yet to fully hit its stride, even with Madrid scoring 10 goals in these first three games.
Camavinga (right) was making his first start of the season for Madrid on Sunday (Denis Doyle/Getty Images)
Bellingham and Mbappe have already stood out. Vinicius Jr has had his moments — one goal, two assists — but has a few difficulties, including some imprecision and problems finding space. Diomande, meanwhile, has yet to start and has been relatively quiet in the 60 minutes he has played from the bench.
There is a long way to go, and the jury is still out on some key selection issues, but one thing is for sure: Mourinho does have more options across the board than were available to Xabi Alonso and Alvaro Arbeloa last season. Perhaps the clearest example of this came from Espi’s stoppage-time winner against Espanyol in the opening league game.
And Mourinho has already made clear he will count on academy players to complete his matchday squads when needed. Centre-back Mario Rivas (19), midfielder Jorge Cestero (20) and winger Alexis Ciria (18) have all been included for each of the three games, though they haven’t been used.
All of this suggests that Madrid’s squad has improved from where it was at the end of last season. Whether it is entirely balanced is something only the next few months will reveal.