Mourinho starts sketching his Real Madrid: aggressive signings and flexible plans to defend three trophies

Valdebebas smells different this summer. After years of rumors, Jose Mourinho has taken the reins at Real Madrid, and the first clues of what he wants to build are already visible: an aggressive, flexible team capable of changing its shape several times within the same match. The preseason friendlies served as a testing ground ahead of the official kickoff, and the transfer market produced moves that explain much of the plan.

The name that generated the most buzz was Yan Diomande. The Ivorian, just 19 years old, arrived from RB Leipzig in a deal that could reach $160 million, quite a bet for such a young player. His strength lies in one on one situations: he receives the ball wide open, attacks the fullback and gets into the box from the right. That profile can complement Vinicius, since it forces defenses to split their attention between both flanks while Mbappe occupies the middle and Bellingham shows up a few yards behind.

It's a dream to be here and I want to help the team win everything.Yan Diomande

The rest of the market moves also follow a clear logic. Marc Cucurella arrived from Chelsea to take over at left back after winning the World Cup with Spain; Denzel Dumfries landed from Inter for the right flank; Ibrahima Konate joined as a free agent after his time at Liverpool to add speed and physical presence to the back line. Mourinho is already working on a possible pairing between Dumfries and Trent Alexander-Arnold, each with a distinct role: one covering more ground end to end, the other more involved as an inside presence.

Bernardo Silva, the joker card

If there's one signing that could end up being decisive because of his versatility, it's Bernardo Silva, who arrived on a free transfer from Manchester City. He can play as a central midfielder, an interior, an attacking midfielder or out wide, which fits Mourinho's idea of managing a short squad.

Bernardo is a tremendous player.Jose Mourinho

The coach explained that the Portuguese international can give the team an outlet "if he plays deeper, if he plays in the six or eight position," and that during a preseason match he decided to push him forward into the ten position. That flexibility is exactly what Mourinho is after when he repeats his core idea: "We want a short squad. I'd say around 20 players," he said, making clear that every player must fulfill a specific role.

Jude Bellingham, back after the World Cup, looks set to play closer to the box again, behind Mbappe, in a 4-2-3-1 that appears to be the starting structure. The Englishman didn't hide his excitement about working with the new coach.

It's a dream for me to work with a coach like Mourinho.Jude Bellingham

The pending issue lies one step further back: the search for a central midfielder to control the team's tempo was never fully resolved (the attempt to sign Rodri didn't go through), and that responsibility will have to be shared among Valverde, Tchouameni, Camavinga and Bernardo himself.

Mbappe, already back in training, spoke about concrete goals.

We have to win. I'm sure that this year we're going to win titles again.Kylian Mbappe

Vinicius, for his part, revealed the message Mourinho gave him in their first conversation: to keep being "happy, joyful and playing my football," a sign that the coach doesn't want to curb the freedom that has made him decisive in recent years.

Preseason produced a 2-2 draw against Fiorentina, wins by 2-1 over Ferencvaros and 1-0 over Deportivo de La Coruna (testing a back five in some stretches), and a clear 3-0 victory over Schalke with goals from Mbappe, Huijsen and Carlos Espi. Mourinho already has plenty of talent to get excited about. Now the challenge is turning all that individual talent into a team, and the first big test arrives Saturday, August 22, against Espanyol.