Real Madrid, Mourinho: “I want the best players, I’m not cutting anyone. Managing egos is the best problem to have”

Real Madrid’s new head coach José Mourinho, speaking to Adebayo Akinfenwa on the Beast Mode On podcast, made it clear that there will be no major departures from the squad.

“I wanted to make one thing clear: I have read some comments around the place saying, ‘José Mourinho will come here and cut some of the best players because of the problems they had last season.’ No. I want these players. I want the best.

“Now I have to find a way to build a cohesive and united team, clearly to avoid the difficulties my predecessors had in previous seasons.”

The reference was clearly to the issues Xabi Alonso had in managing the biggest names in the squad, something that was later repeated under Álvaro Arbeloa, including with Kylian Mbappé.

“Managing egos is the best problem a coach can have. The best players are the best problem a coach can have,” Mourinho added.

The Portuguese coach has already been backed with the signings of Marc Cucurella, Bernardo Silva, Ibrahima Konaté and Denzel Dumfries.

“I want quality. Sometimes people say: ‘This player has incredible quality, but physically he is not really at the level.’ So that means he is not at the level. ‘This player has incredible quality, but he is not consistent, he has ups and downs.’ So he is not a great player.”

“The great player has to be the complete package,” Mourinho explained. “He has to be technically good, physically strong, mentally strong. He has to be a footballer who plays for the team.

“That is what I look for. Sometimes you have a lot of them in the squad and it is paradise. Other times you have fewer and the job is a little more difficult.

“I strongly believe that one of a coach’s qualities is also knowing how to get the best out of players.”