Real Madrid pays 140M for Diomandé, Rodri to Barça

Mourinho starts at Real Madrid without a pivot and with Diomandé for 140M

Real Madrid has begun the 2026/27 season with José Mourinho on the bench, a transfer market that left the playmaker position unresolved, and a fanbase split between those asking for patience and those who think the project is broken before winter. Three weeks into the campaign, the team has one league defeat and trails Barcelona by six points. The summer is defined by three moves: the club’s most expensive signing, a forward few had seen play, Vinicius Jr.’s extension until 2032, and pivot Rodri — long deemed essential — heading to their biggest rival, according to a segment of supporters.

Rodri, Zubimendi, and the midfield gap no one covers

Since the departures of Luka Modrić and, especially, Toni Kroos, the diagnosis is unanimous: Real Madrid needs a player capable of building play from the back. They have gone two seasons without one and begin a third without a solution. The Rodri deal, dragged out hoping to exploit his final contract year, is now lost to Barcelona, and the effect is worse than mere absence: if he joins the azulgrana, the argument is he was never truly on the table.

The Zubimendi situation weighs even more. Last summer, when the Basque player entered the market for a price similar to Mastantuono’s, sporting management chose the Argentine attacking midfielder, citing waiting for Rodri. A year later, Zubimendi is cited as the core of an Arsenal side that won the Premier League and reached the Champions League final, while Mastantuono has been loaned out. Some calculate that paying over 65 million for a 30-year-old pivot with a expiring contract was madness; others warn that if he joins their main rival, it strengthens their midfield with the best player of the last World Cup.

Underlying this is a business moving in only one direction. In the same summer window, a modest Premier League club paid 46 million for Manchester City’s backup goalkeeper, valued at 25 in reference markets. Inflation spares no one, not even backups.

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Diomandé: 140 million for a forward who fixes no deficits

Real Madrid’s most expensive signing is a winger who has barely played in a top-tier league and arrives in a dressing room with seven forwards. The most repeated criticism during the early league phase is not that he is bad, but that he is unnecessary: the team still lacks a playmaker and a reference number nine, and spending their largest ever outlay on another attacking profile is seen as a whim.

Matches have fueled this reading. Against lower-table rivals, the team created plenty of chances but failed to convert; in their first serious test, the midfield dissolved and the defense leaked goals. A widely shared analysis summed up the problem with a phrase applicable to the rest of the squad: someone costing 140 million cannot be valued merely for trying.

Defense of the signing relies on two concrete strengths he has brought: a right-side dribbler capable of beating a fullback one-on-one, and a box forward with the physique to challenge long balls. Based on this, the recurring question is whether Mourinho can build a system that does not depend on two stars occupying the same flank with identical space.

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Vinicius’s renewal until 2032 after two blank years

The deal was closed in the final negotiation phase, with the manager himself pushing for the Brazilian to stay. The contract extends until 2032, and salary distribution remains central to the debate: over two years without league or European titles, renewing a player who has only managed streaks is read by much of the fanbase as another concession.

The circulating figures are modest compared to other squad stars. Defenders of the move argue that retaining him prevents a free transfer to a competitor; attackers note that his clear historical sale has become a salary hike after two trophy-less seasons. The repeated comparison is Mesut Özil in 2013: he also demanded more money after a titleless campaign, and management’s response was a kick and a ticket to Arsenal.

Within this debate lies an extra-sporting issue. A segment of fans has reacted hostilely to the player’s and some teammates’ decision not to wear a Ceuta tribute jersey the club prepared before a competitive match, removing it at the last moment. This criticism line is countered by forum users recalling similar campaigns against Cristiano Ronaldo.

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Who organizes the midfield?: seven players for one spot

With Camavinga, Tchouaméni, Valverde, Bellingham, Güler, Bernardo Silva, and the awaited pivot, Real Madrid would have more midfielders than bench seats, none with the clear function of starting play. Mourinho, asked in preseason about the lack of a playmaker, argued Modrić arrived from Tottenham as an attacking midfielder and was reconverted at Real Madrid. The extracted conclusion, spreading among season trinc, is that the plan is to turn Güler into the player who builds play from the back.

Tests have trinc with mixed results. In some matches, the Turk was the team’s best and sustained buildup; in others, the manager subbed him off at halftime while keeping two midfielders without direction to deliver the through ball the squad demands. The most repeated criticism of this start points to bench management as the real problem, beyond lack of signings: the best were removed when the team was lost, while those who never pass the ball were kept.

Nor does the defense help. The team concedes an average of three goals in matches against serious rivals, with the recurring sensation that the defensive pivot arrives late everywhere because the team is split in two. The breakdown of direct encounters with Barcelona — one win in the last six, including 0-4 and 2-5 results — is the data many use to prove the season has not improved essentially.

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Zain, refereeing, and a league part of the fanbase has lost

The Zain case runs through the entire season coverage and frames any refereeing decision. The most repeated arguments are statistical: ratios of fouls given and not given for and against Real Madrid and Barcelona, cards received in La Liga versus those in European competitions under the same rules, and penalties awarded to both sides. A segment of fans argues these biases are not explained solely by refereeing interpretation.

On the other side, those who recall that matches are won or lost for many reasons and that blaming referees hides own deficiencies. This debate has become central: the refereeing complaint competes with criticism of the midfield, sporting management, and the bench, and in many messages, all three merge. As repeated, UEFA keeps the file open with no known public resolution.

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The final institutional dance: Stock Exchange, CNMV, and shareholder members

Beneath the weekly noise is a question defining the next decade: what Real Madrid Florentino Pérez will leave behind. Some argue the club is heading to the Stock Exchange, with a prospectus registered with the CNMV, and that members will become non-voting shareholders unable to elect a president. The argument relies on the difficulty of explaining recent moves with the logic of a regular member.

The current president’s history justifies why a segment of fans does not take this lightly: seven Champions Leagues and three EuroLeague basketball titles, signings of Zidane, Modrić, or Cristiano Ronaldo, and a complete stadium remodel. The lingering question is what more can be asked. The most frequent response in this season’s coverage is a single one: a fair conclusion to the Zain case.

The detail that disrupts the discussion is the coincidence. The same summer the market is rushed, the most debated player is renewed, and the most talked-about pivot heads to the rival, the prevailing sensation is that fans have endured three years of internal disputes that on-pitch reality does not resolve. The final stretch of coverage has become a battle among veterans on how to interpret each club move, with positions not shifting. The season has barely begun, and the debate about Madrid has already reached its second volume.