Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho made a confession about new FC Barcelona signing Rodri and confirmed two injuries in his first press conference ahead of Espanyol.
The Catalans beat Madrid to the Spain captain and Best Player at the World Cup, after talks between his former club Manchester City and Los Blancos broke down.
Despite their shortcomings in that area of the park, however, since the departures of Toni Kroos and Luka Modric, Mourinho stated: “I don’t think we have a deficit in midfield.”
“Then you can come with the question of: ‘If he doesn’t have a deficit, why did you want to sign Rodri?’. Rodri would have been like the icing on the cake. He is a great player, with great experience and great status. If you can have him, then we will have him and we will improve,” Mourinho added.
“We have Tchouameni, Camavinga, Valverde, Bernardo, Arda; because I think that Arda in the end can also play in these positions. It’s not that we have a problem or that we have to go for another player,” the Portuguese also offered.
With Madrid finishing trophyless over the past two seasons while Barcelona mopped up five out of the six domestic trophies on offer, the battle for dominance in Spain can be won and lost in midfield.
We’ll see if Mourinho has something to counteract World Cup winners Pedri and Rodri, where Carlo Ancelotti, Xabi Alonso and Alvaro Arbeloa couldn’t come up with answers.
Mourinho confirmed two injury absences for Real Madrid
With Espanyol on Saturday at the RCDE Stadium, his second La Liga debut as Real Madrid manager following a stint in the early 2010s, Mourinho confirmed that two players could miss the clash through injury while one of them definitely will.
“Endrick won’t be called up for the match, he has a minor muscle injury.
Tchouameni could be called up but will not be a starter, he needs training sessions to reach match rhythm due to the injury he had,” Mourinho stated.
Though Endrick’s absence doesn’t change much in the grand scheme of things as Kylian Mbappe will probably be the striker, Tchouameni’s condition forces Mourinho to possibly choose Eduardo Camavinga as his Real Madrid pivot on Saturday night.