Jose Mourinho faces major preseason problem ahead of new era at Real Madrid

Jose Mourinho faces major preseason problem ahead of new era at Real Madrid While currently most of them would be occupied with their favorite players and teams playing in the World Cup 2026, Real Madrid fans would still be looking forward to one date in particular next month, i.e., 13 th July, as the team’s preseason training is set to begin on this date. This day would mark the start of a new era, as Jose Mourinho would have his players back for the start of his second managerial stint at the white club. Undoubtedly, the Portuguese manager himself would be quite excited for the arrival of that date. However, there is one aspect that could sour some of his anticipation for the start of this preseason training. This is none other than the World Cup 2026 itself, as SPORT notes that the international competition means the new coach would have around only half of his first team players, 13 out of 28, available for the start of preseason training. To make things worse, another half of these 13 players have their futures at Real Madrid uncertain, including players like Eduardo Camavinga, Raul Asencio, Gonzalo Garcia, Fran Garcia, Franco Mastantuono, and Thiago Pitarch . Mourinho is yet to make a decision about the futures of all of these players. This would leave him with seven first-team players, whom he can count on for the next season, i.e., Trent Alexander-Arnold, Alvaro Carreras, Andriy Lunin, Ferland Mendy, Dean Huijsen, Rodrygo Goes, and Eder Militao. However, the two Brazilians would also be unavailable for the start of the preseason training, as they would be still recovering from their injuries. Arda Guler and Federico Valverde are the two Real Madrid players whose World Cup campaigns have ended at the group stage, but they would still have to go on vacation, and are not expected to join training before 20 th July. On the other hand, a player that makes it to the World Cup final would begin his vacations on 20 July, as the final is scheduled for 19 th July, and thus, would be able to report for training only on August 10, only five days before the start of La Liga. Thus, it is quite understandable why Jose Mourinho recently commented that he wants the teams of his Real Madrid players to lose in the World Cup, despite their controversial nature.