At the end of April, Real Madrid were heading into a decisive meeting with Barcelona knowing defeat would hand the La Liga title to their Clasico rivals.
Even victory would have likely only prolonged the inevitable. Madrid were almost certain to end the season without a major trophy for a second consecutive year.
That is a big deal for the 15-time European champions. The last time it happened was in 2009-10. Back then, Jose Mourinho was brought in as manager.
Florentino Perez had a plan.
Nobody saw it coming, but by the end of April, The Athletic reported that the 63-year-old Portuguese manager was Madrid president Perez’s favoured option to take over from Alvaro Arbeloa.
By the time Mourinho was officially appointed on June 11, he and Madrid’s senior leaders — including Perez, general manager Jose Angel Sanchez and chief scout Juni Calafat — had already set out a strategy on how to respond.
The results of their meetings have been playing out over the past few months, as Madrid have made their biggest spend in the transfer market since 2019.
Madrid have invested around €260million (£223m; $300m) this summer on six new signings, and in paying Benfica (€15m) to release Mourinho from his contract at the Portuguese club.
Former Liverpool centre-back Ibrahima Konate and ex-Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva arrived as free agents, while a package worth up to €60m was agreed to bring Marc Cucurella in from Chelsea. Right-back Denzel Dumfries joined from Inter for €20m (£21.6m; $29.1m), striker Carlos Espi arrived from Levante for €25m ($29m; £21m) and winger Yan Diomande signed in a deal that could be worth a club-record €140m from RB Leipzig.
Madrid have not recently involved their managers closely in the recruitment process. That changed. Former coaches Carlo Ancelotti, Xabi Alonso and Arbeloa were not consulted as Mourinho has.
Real Madrid have started the season with three La Liga wins from three games (David Ramos/Getty Images)
That is probably one of the main reasons why there is a shared sense, from Madrid’s board to Mourinho, that this window has been a success — and that the squad is now ready to compete for every title.
At the same time, there is a feeling — among external and internal voices — that the team is still short of one profile in particular: a midfielder capable of dictating the tempo of matches. In that regard, Rodri’s preference to join Barcelona has to be considered a blow.
The Athletic takes you through the busiest transfer window at Madrid for quite some time.
Madrid and Mourinho began planning the new squad in early May, initially through the manager’s agent Jorge Mendes.
There was agreement from the outset on the areas in need of strengthening. In line with the club’s view, Mourinho wanted: a second-choice right-back (subject to the budget) to provide stiff competition for Trent Alexander-Arnold; at least one dominant centre-back; a first-class left-back and a creative midfielder. Each of these positions were quickly ticked off.
The signings of Konate and Dumfries were officially confirmed on June 18 and July 5 respectively, but both deals had been put into place well before Madrid’s presidential election saw Perez voted in again on June 7.
Dumfries was seen as providing a more defensive full-back option to complement Alexander-Arnold’s more attacking profile. Konate arrived to become one of the mainstays of a central defence that has been hit by injuries to Antonio Rudiger (who extended his contract until 2027) and Eder Militao. Experience was needed experience to complement Dean Huijsen, 21, and Raul Asencio, 23.
On paper, albeit in different roles, Dumfries and Konate would fill the gaps left by Dani Carvajal and David Alaba, who left as free agents after not being offered contract extensions. Dani Ceballos left in June, too, after agreeing to terminate a contract that was due to run to 2027.
Next to fall into place was the signing of Cucurella from Chelsea. Madrid’s lightning-fast move was the clearest sign of just how serious they were in this transfer window.
Beating Barcelona and Atletico Madrid to the punch, they reached an agreement worth €55million plus €5m in add-ons (£51.7m; $69.4m) for the 28-year-old, despite already having three left-backs on their books in Alvaro Carreras, Ferland Mendy and Fran Garcia, who would eventually leave for Real Betis in a switch worth €4m, with Madrid retaining a 50 per cent sell-on clause.
Despite rejecting the option months before, Madrid moved ahead of Barcelona and Atletico again with the signing of Bernardo Silva after the 32-year-old left Manchester City. This arrival had an impact on Nico Paz.
The 21-year-old Argentina midfielder was expected to return to the Bernabeu via a buy-back clause of around €9m that was included in his August 2024 sale to Italian club Como.
However, a conversation between Paz and Mourinho left both parties cold, and the option of Bernardo Silva led to Madrid and Como instead renegotiating the terms of their agreement. Madrid said they expect to receive €60million from that, with their previous buyback and sell-on clauses removed. They now have a new buyback option at €80m.
Marc Cucurella’s move from Chelsea to Real Madrid was conducted quickly (Florencia Tan Jun/Getty Images)
Many other names were linked with Madrid. Mourinho’s favourite option was Enzo Fernandez, despite club sources denying it. Days after The Athletic reported that his arrival was unlikely, Madrid stated in an official press release that they had no interest in the midfielder, who eventually joined Manchester City for a joint British transfer record fee of £125m on deadline day.
Another player Mourinho liked was Mateus Fernandes, but the club would have never gone close to the £85m Tottenham Hotspur paid West Ham United.
There was much talk during the 2026 World Cup about Morocco’s 18-year-old midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi. He too would join Manchester City, signing from Lille in a deal worth up to €100m. Madrid had been monitoring him since before his breakthrough at this summer’s tournament, but did not yet consider him ready to make that big leap.
After turning down several offers to sign him in previous months, Madrid changed their stance on Rodri as he led Spain to win the World Cup. Talks were opened with the player’s camp and they were confident of reaching an agreement with Manchester City as well, until Rodri chose Barcelona.
Prior to that, Madrid felt something wasn’t entirely going well and asked people with close ties to Rodri and his entourage to sound out the situation. The saga attracted a great deal of attention, not only from outside but also from within. People involved in Madrid’s day-to-day running, as well as others close to the players, felt Rodri was the missing piece of the puzzle and were so keen to find out more that they were even asking journalists what was going on.
Once it became clear the plan was falling through, Madrid changed their strategy: now a player would have to be sold for another to be signed.
That seemed inconsistent, given that Mourinho wanted another midfielder and that Madrid had tried to sign Rodri. It was also striking because of a consensus that the team needed a player capable of dictating the tempo of the game, something that previous coaches Carlo Ancelotti and Xabi Alonso had also asked for.
Madrid were open to offers for Eduardo Camavinga and Raul Asencio, but neither showed any indication of wanting to leave.
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In terms of attack, The Athletic reported in June that Mourinho was interested in signing a No 9 in the mould of Joselu, who had a big impact in a backup role at Madrid during the 2023-24 season.
It was not a major priority, however, and it was decided that another striker would have to be sold in order to accommodate the request. Gonzalo Garcia’s €40million departure to Fulham, now led by former Madrid boss Arbeloa, unlocked the situation, paving the way for Espi’s arrival.
Signing a right winger was not initially among Madrid’s priorities, either, but as the weeks went by, a belief that an improvement was needed gained ground. This began to take further shape after the World Cup, when The Athletic revealed that Madrid had entered the race for RB Leipzig’s Diomande. Liverpool first, and then Paris Saint-Germain, had been well positioned, but the Spanish club ultimately succeeded by agreeing a deal that could be worth up to €140m.
Some at Madrid regarded Vinicius Junior’s contract extension until 2032 as another success on a par with a major signing. The 26-year-old Brazilian was very tempted to join Arsenal, but protracted negotiations eventually resulted in the winger renewing at the Bernabeu.
Alongside all these signings, Real Madrid generated significant revenue through player departures, sell-on clauses for previous sales and the Paz renegotiation with Como. The total stands at around €190m, including that €60m over Paz.
Victor Munoz’s move to Liverpool falls into that second category. Madrid stand to earn up to €20m from the deal, thanks to a 50 per cent sell-on clause they included when selling him to Osasuna last year.
