Mourinho's Vision for Güler at Real Madrid
Real Madrid head into the 2026-27 season with the usual noise swirling around the Bernabeu, but Jose Mourinho sounds clear on one thing: if the club cannot buy their missing midfield brain, he may well build it himself.
The champions open on Saturday against Espanyol, and Mourinho’s first pre-season back in Madrid has been busy rather than flawless. The squad looks deeper. Denzel Dumfries has arrived to add power on the right, Marc Cucurella brings energy and bite on the left, and Yan Diomande strengthens the core. The obvious gap remains untouched: a true midfield controller.
Targets Enzo Fernandez and Rodri have slipped away, leaving a hole in the centre of the pitch that Real Madrid are not used to tolerating. That shortfall is already shaping Mourinho’s thinking. If the market will not give him a regista, he is prepared to mould one.
And he has a name in mind.
Mourinho’s vision for Güler
Speaking to El Chiringuito (via Diario AS), Mourinho was strikingly open about where he sees Arda Güler’s future.
"I love Güler. I think something similar is going to happen to Modric or Bernardo Silva. You start in one position and end up in another, you start as a 10 and you will finish as an 8 or 6. I think Arda will go in that direction with his evolution and knowledge of the game."
It is a bold comparison. Luka Modric and Bernardo Silva both began higher up the pitch before drifting deeper as their understanding and influence grew. Mourinho clearly believes Güler, currently seen as a classic No.10, can follow that same path into the heart of the game, directing tempo rather than just providing the final pass.
The Turkish international is unlikely to be thrown straight into that role when the season kicks off. This is a long-term project, not a quick fix. Yet the idea is now out in the open: Güler is no longer just a luxury creator in Mourinho’s mind, but a potential solution to the very problem the club failed to solve in the transfer market.
Bernardo Silva at the core
For the immediate term, the deeper creative duties are being prepared for someone far more established. Bernardo Silva is being lined up to operate in that area, closer to the build-up and the ball, rather than glued to the touchline.
Mourinho has spoken glowingly about his Portuguese compatriot, stressing that Silva arrives as a cornerstone, not a political signing or a move aimed at unsettling Barcelona or Atletico Madrid. The message is simple: he is there to elevate Madrid’s football, not just the temperature of the rivalry.
"He brings everything" is how Mourinho summed up Silva’s impact, underlining his belief that the former Manchester City man can knit together a team still searching for a natural conductor.
So Real Madrid step into the new season with a familiar blend of star power and unanswered questions. The midfield controller they chased all summer never came. Mourinho’s response is to trust his ideas, his structure, and the evolution of players like Güler and Silva.
If that gamble pays off, the story of Madrid’s season might not be about the signings they missed, but about the roles they reinvented.
