Real Madrid have wasted no time in putting together their big defensive revamp following the appointment of Jose Mourinho – but what shape will his first-choice backline take next season?
The La Liga giants haven’t actually officially announced any of their new arrivals, but it sounds like a formality that Mourinho’s defence will have at least three new faces in it next season. What does that mean for their existing options?
Here’s a closer look at how we think Real Madrid could line up defensively next season.
The starters
A slightly impromptu presidential election put Real Madrid’s transfer dealings on the backburner a little, but now that’s out of the way they’ve raced into action to back their new manager.
And it’s classic Mourinho to look at the foundations and build this new-look side back in his image from the ground up.
Surprisingly enough, Los Blancos actually had the best defensive record in La Liga last season. They conceded one fewer goal than the runaway champions Barcelona, and considerably fewer than Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid.
But that was a defence beset by issues, with injuries chief among them.
Experienced heads like Eder Militao, Antonio Rudiger, Dani Carvajal and David Alaba were unable to play as often as they’d have liked, while Dean Huijsen – who struggled in his debut season, resulting in his omission from Spain’s World Cup squad – the only centre-back to start more than half of the league games.
Given that, it makes sense Madrid have gone out to sign three new defenders, all of whom will presumably look to start in Mourinho’s new-look backline.
The club are yet to announce the signing of Ibrahima Konate, but Florentino Perez confirmed it amid his presidential campaign and reports suggest it’s done and dusted.
Konate was not always especially convincing in his final season at Liverpool, but he’s a title-winner and has bags of Champions League experience. His signing has also received a nod of approval from his Les Bleus team-mate Kylian Mbappe.
“Konate is a very aggressive defender, in the best sense. Never a bad move, he’s tough in his marking, he wants his opponent to feel like they’re going to have a rough night,” Mbappe told reporters.
“I love defenders like him on my team.”
The negotiations with Chelsea for Marc Cucurella are ongoing, but it sounds like that one is going to make it over the line.
The left-back, a key player in Spain’s Euro 2024 win and current World Cup squad, looks like a classic Mourinho full-back – a player you love if he’s on your team, but despise on the opposition.
You expect Cucurella to start on one flank, with Denzel Dumfries on the other. The Netherlands international is the kind of not especially glamorous but defensively proficient player you could imagine turning out for Jose Mourinho’s treble-winning Inter back in the day.
Of Madrid’s existing options, we expect to see Rudiger starting alongside Konate in the centre of defence.
The 33-year-old agreed a one-year extension and is exactly the kind of slightly unhinged, die-for-the-cause centre-back that all of Mourinho’s best teams have had – Ricardo Carvalho, John Terry, Pepe and Sergio Ramos to name but a few.
But given Rudiger’s advancing years, his contract situation, and recent injury record – don’t rule out the possibility of Madrid going out and signing another centre-back to complete an all-new backline.
Mourinho isn’t as bothered about having both a left-footer and a right-footer as more possession-focused coaches, but getting in a more traditionally left-sided centre-back to go alongside Konate might make sense. Riccardo Calafiori and Josko Gvardiol are two names that have been mooted in the Spanish press.
The back-ups
When news of Mourinho’s return was prompted back in April, we speculated that Mourinho might convince the experienced club captain Dani Carvajal to extend his contract.
Carvajal was the last remaining member of Mourinho’s first stint at Madrid, and while they didn’t see eye-to-eye at the time – the right-back was sold to Bayer Leverkusen before being bought back following Mourinho’s departure – we reasoned that the grizzled veteran was much more of Mourinho’s kind of right-back than the enigmatic Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Alexander-Arnold’s creative ability, in particular his world-class crossing, makes him a brilliant asset if you can utilise his skill set correctly.
Jurgen Klopp and Arne Slot cracked that code, but a succession of England and Real Madrid managers haven’t quite managed it.
We were half-right. The arrival of Dumfries suggests that Alexander-Arnold will have to fight for his place, but Carvajal has finally waved goodbye to his boyhood club – allowing Mourinho a clean slate after the fractious nature of his departure 13 years ago.
It’ll be interesting to see in what capacity Mourinho leans on Alexander-Arnold, but our early assumption is he’ll be something of a rotational option and wildcard off the bench when they require something a bit different.
The same can be said for the other defensive reinforcements from last summer.
With his modern, play-out-from-the-back style, Huijsen looks more of a classically Pep Guardiola centre-back than a Mourinho one.
Expect him to drop to the bench alongside Alvaro Carreras, who performed poorly as last season progressed and was brutally exposed in the Champions League by Michael Olise.
You don’t imagine that Mourinho would stand for one of his full-backs getting ripped to shreds in that manner.
Elsewhere, La Fabrica graduate Raul Asencio is a useful player but arguably too limited to have had as much of a starting role as has been necessitated by injuries to senior players.
Expect to see him drop back to the bench after the signing of Konate. He could become a 2026 answer to a Nacho or a Lucas Vazquez – a dependable, homegrown alternative squad player.
David Alaba quietly followed Carvajal out of the exit door, which made sense given his struggles with injuries.
But Eder Militao, Ferland Mendy and Fran Garcia are all still knocking about and will also serve as potential alternatives if fit and available.
Militao, in particular, you can imagine having a big role to play under Mourinho if he can kick on and put his recent injury woes behind him.
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