AFTER a somewhat unsatisfactory season, Real Madrid’s members voted-in president Florentino Pérez for yet another term. Nothing changes, it would seem, but in 2026-27, the biggest club in the world will be hoping for positive a transformation after a trophyless campaign. It is all relative, of course, for Real finished second in La Liga and reached the last eight of the UEFA Champions League, but it really wasn’t good enough by their lofty standards.
The mid-season malaise at the club cost Xabi Alonso his job as coach, a short stint of 34 games that ended with a win rate of 70.59%. Alonso arrived from Bayer Leverkusen with no small amount of expectation but it didn’t work out, largely because of a series of run-ins with Vinícius Júnior. Alonso’s replacement, Álvaro Arbeloa, didn’t fare that well and won 18 of 28 games, stepping down at the end of May 2026.
The mood was made bleaker by Barcelona’s progress, a young team that scored goals for fun and won the league by a margin of eight points. Real lost just six games, but four of those were very clumsy – at home to Celta Vigo and Getafe and away at relegated Mallorca and similarly struggling Osasuna. In Europe, Real lost three of their eight league phase games, to Liverpool, Manchester City and Benfica, but then got their revenge on City in the last 16 before going out to Bayern Munich.
Kylian Mbappé, in his second season, demonstrated his power with 42 goals in all competitions, taking his total to 86 in 103 games since arriving from Paris Saint-Germain. There were concerns, though, that Real did not buy well in 2025-26. Dean Huijsen cost almost € 60 million when joining from Bournemouth, but he struggled for much of the season. Alvaro Carreras was signed from Benfica at a price of € 50 million, but failed to settle and was apparently involved in a dressing room altercation. Argentinian midfielder/ forward Franco Mastantuono, who is just 18, looks set to go on loan to Juventus after a disappointing time. The other notable signing was Trent Alexander-Arnold, formerly of Liverpool, who had a very patchy season. More positively, the young Turkish midfielder Arda Güler, continued to improve and is now valued at around € 90 million, but according to media reports, returning coach José Mourinho cannot guarantee him a place in the starting line-up in 2026-27.
The appointment of Mourinho, on a three-year deal, was a surprise to many people but Pérez probably believes his return will provide a boost to the club’s profile and focus the attention away from Barcelona. New signings have started to arrive, including Marc Cucurella from Chelsea and Bernardo Silva from Manchester City. Real, inevitably, have been linked with so many star names, such as Jôsko Gvardiol, Michael Olise, Denzel Dumfries, Nico Schlotterbeck, Enzo Fernández and Julián Alvarez. Whoever they sign will cost big money, but then Real are a club that generates more than a € 1 billion a year – if they need reinforcements, they can certainly get them.
Photo: David Carrero Fernandez-Baillo via Unsplash.
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