José Mourinho on Tchouameni and Valverde's Feud Resolution
José Mourinho insists he has never needed to play peacemaker between Aurélien Tchouameni and Federico Valverde, despite the storm that raged between the pair last season.
The two midfielders clashed twice in May, one confrontation serious enough to leave Valverde in hospital with a head injury. For weeks, their feud became a storyline of its own inside a Real Madrid dressing room that usually keeps its secrets well hidden.
That feels a long time ago now.
From flashpoint to truce
Over the summer, the landscape shifted. Tchouameni signed a new contract. Valverde inherited the captain’s armband after Dani Carvajal’s departure. The hierarchy changed, and with it, the mood.
On the eve of Madrid’s meeting with Rayo Vallecano, Mourinho painted a picture of a squad that has healed itself.
“Look, I haven't done anything. They've done everything themselves,” he said. “The empathy within the group today, the friendship, the way they work together, the frustration when they go off because nobody wants to be substituted, but still supporting their teammates, the player who comes on in the final minute… the group is fantastic.”
The evidence has been there on the pitch. In the recent Champions League win over Inter Milan, Tchouameni made his first appearance of the season after returning from World Cup duty, coming on late for Trent Alexander-Arnold. At full-time, cameras caught him embracing Valverde. No tension. No distance. Just two key players sharing a win.
Mourinho admitted he had been ready to intervene once the pair returned from their international commitments. He never had to.
“If I knew nothing, if I walked into the dressing room without knowing anything about the situation, I'd think they were great friends,” he explained. “When they came back from the World Cup, I was obviously paying attention to see whether I needed to act as a peacekeeper, but I didn't have to do anything.”
Mourinho’s shield around Vinicius
With the midfield calm restored, attention has turned to another pillar of this Madrid side: Vinicius Jr.
The Brazilian ended a summer of speculation by signing a new contract through 2032 last month, tying his long-term future to the club he has already helped load with trophies. The new deal has not yet been matched by his usual explosion of goals. One strike in five games across all competitions has sparked questions about his form and his focus.
Mourinho is having none of it.
“The best Vinicius is coming soon,” he told reporters. “The one from last year, when the Bernabeu was terrified against Benfica and he ended up winning the tie. The Vinicius who won matches single-handedly hasn't arrived yet. But he will.”
This is not blind faith. Mourinho leaned on the numbers that drive the modern game.
“In an era of data and statistics, he's very close to his top speed,” he said. “He's broken his records for high-intensity sprints, records for ball recoveries, for ball recoveries in the final third... He's coming.”
The former Chelsea and Manchester United manager bristled at the level of criticism directed at a 26-year-old who has already collected three La Liga titles, two Champions Leagues and two FIFA Club World Cups with Madrid, alongside a stack of individual milestones.
For Mourinho, the noise around Vinicius is not a sign of decline. It is a measure of his status.
“In Portugal there's a proverb, I don't know if it's the same in Spain, ‘you only throw stones at trees that bear fruit,’” he said. “What has Vini done here in recent years? How many Champions Leagues has he won? How many goals has he scored? He's a tree with plenty of fruit. And people throw stones because they want fruit.”
The dressing room feud is over, at least for now. The captain and the renewed midfielder are back in step. Vinicius is running harder and faster than ever, even if the goals have not yet caught up.
Madrid move into the next phase of the season with Mourinho convinced: the unity is real, and the club’s most dangerous forward is about to start bearing fruit again.
