Some managers arrive at a new club and take time to assess.
They observe over weeks and months before drawing conclusions about who fits their vision and who doesn’t.
Jose Mourinho has never operated that way.
He hasn’t even officially started his second stint at Real Madrid.
And he’s already handed the club a list of players he doesn’t want.
Jose Mourinho tells Real Madrid he does not want six players in his squad next season
According to Ramon Alvarez, Jose Mourinho has informed the Real Madrid hierarchy of six squad members who aren’t part of his plans for next season.
The names on that list are Eduardo Camavinga, Rodrygo, Franco Mastantuono, Fran Garcia, Raul Asencio and Dani Ceballos.
Some of the inclusions are expected.
Fran Garcia has never convinced as a starting left-back option at a club with Real Madrid’s expectations.
Ceballos has spent years on the fringes, always capable but never consistent enough to nail down a regular place at the highest level.
Asencio emerged as an impressive option, but Mourinho’s vision for the back line is clearly being shaped around different profiles.
Mastantuono is the most intriguing name.
The Argentine teenager arrived at the Bernabeu with extraordinary hype.
A player compared to Messi before he’d kicked a ball in European football.
His debut season was disappointing, and Mourinho’s rapid dismissal of him suggests he’s already made a decisive judgement.
But the two names that will generate the most discussion are Camavinga and Rodrygo.
Camavinga was one of the most exciting young midfielders in world football when he arrived from Rennes in 2021.
But this season has been difficult.
And yet Mourinho, it seems, has already seen enough.
Rodrygo’s inclusion is the biggest surprise of all.
However, Mourinho is reportedly assembling a forward line built around Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Michael Olise, if the presidential election goes his way.
In that context, Rodrygo doesn’t fit.
However, six potential sales could reshape Real Madrid’s finances, allowing the incoming era to be built exactly as Mourinho demands.
The Special One hasn’t started yet.
But the revolution has already begun.
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