The 2026–27 season hadn’t even started yet, and Real Madrid boss José Mourinho had already publicly targeted Bernardo Silva. “He arrived for preseason with much lower physical fitness, and he has to improve,” the manager said in the early days of August.
Mourinho veiled the jab by insisting Silva is a “very important player for us,” but the ensuing months proved otherwise. The Portugal international has only made four appearances greater than 15 minutes in a white shirt—and those all came when Aurélien Tchouaméni was not fit enough to start.
