Jose Mourinho reportedly has four untouchable first-team starters at Real Madrid – but Trent Alexander-Arnold is not one of them.
Madrid begin their LaLiga campaign away at Espanyol on Saturday after a pre-season which has seen them go unbeaten.
They have bolstered their squad with six signings, including the £120million capture of winger Yan Diomande, who Liverpool had targeted, from RB Leipzig.
Los Blancos have also added Bernardo Silva and Ibrahima Konate for free and splashed out on Marc Cucurella, Carlos Espi, and Denzel Dumfries to take their total spend to around £205million.
Competition is hot, but Mourinho is reportedly implementing a 4-2-3-1 formation to accommodate his ‘untouchables’.
Those four are the front quartet – Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Junior, and Diomande – according to Spanish outlet AS.
Jose Mourinho reportedly has just four nailed-on starters with Real Madrid
Jude Bellingham is part of that quarter, which also includes Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior, and Yan Diomande
It would suggest that Mourinho has a very defined idea of how he wants his team to attack and could be a departure from his typical pragmatism.
The rest of the squad find themselves in more of a battle and that is certainly the case for Alexander-Arnold, who will be competing with Dumfries.
Dumfries, also known for his prowess going forward, won two Serie A titles with Inter Milan and also reached two Champions League finals.
Alexander-Arnold has played two more minutes than him in pre-season (241 to 239), but some of Dumfries’ have been on the wing.
At least he will not have to battle with former club captain Dani Carvajal, a fan favourite who left the club in May after 23 years with them across two spells.
Silva also finds himself in competition with Aurelien Tchouameni, Federico Valverde and Eduardo Camavinga for minutes.
The 32-year-old left Manchester City this summer after nine seasons and brings a different dimension to Madrid’s midfield.
He has his work cut out to convince his manager, though, after Mourinho accused him of lacking fitness in their recent pre-season friendly against Ferencvaros.
Trent Alexander-Arnold will face fierce competition from newbie Denzel Dumfries at right-back
Mourinho is aiming to restore Madrid to glory after two disappointing seasons.
Madrid last won LaLiga and the Champions League in 2023-24 but have been outdone by Barcelona on the domestic stage and Paris Saint-Germain continentally.
Mourinho certainly brings the blockbuster factor and that much is evidenced in the fact he has a new Netflix documentary out.
But the 63-year-old Portuguese – who styled himself at Chelsea as a ‘Special One’ – has had a fallow past decade for the most part.
His last league title came with Chelsea in 2014-15 and despite reasonable success with Manchester United and Roma, he was unable to meet his high standards at Tottenham, Fenerbahce, and Benfica.
