Real Madrid have started a new era under Jose Mourinho following his return for a second spell.
The Spanish giants enjoyed an unbeaten pre-season before opening their La Liga campaign with a 2–1 win over Espanyol.
Jude Bellingham opened the scoring before substitute Carlos Espi struck a dramatic winner in the 90th minute.
Madrid also completed significant summer business, bringing in six first-team signings before declaring their incoming work finished.
Yan Diomande, Denzel Dumfries, Marc Cucurella, Bernardo Silva and Ibrahima Konate were among the major additions.
However, Los Blancos missed out on Rodri despite identifying the Spanish midfielder as a major target.
Rodri instead joined Barcelona, leaving Madrid to consider another option for the role in Mourinho’s midfield.
Mourinho later downplayed that setback and insisted he remained completely satisfied with the squad at his disposal.
According to Sport, Real Madrid have been linked with Arsenal midfielder Martin Zubimendi as an alternative after missing Rodri.
However, Arsenal have now made it clear that Zubimendi is not available for transfer this summer.
The 27-year-old has started the season with a reduced role under Mikel Arteta despite his importance last campaign.
Zubimendi came from the bench in Arsenal’s first two matches against Manchester City and Coventry City.
Arteta explained that the reduced minutes form part of a plan to manage his workload across the campaign. He said before Arsenal’s opening Premier League fixture:
“He is a really important player for us.”
The Arsenal manager added that the club cannot allow Zubimendi to reach the final months after playing 55 matches.
Competition has also increased following Bruno Guimaraes’ arrival, with Myles Lewis-Skelly another option alongside Declan Rice.
Nevertheless, Arsenal continue to count on Zubimendi and have firmly ruled out selling him during this transfer window.
That stance leaves Real Madrid facing another setback after already losing their pursuit of Rodri to Barcelona.
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