Mourinho must sacrifice one of two Real Madrid established stars to accommodate summer signing

Mourinho must sacrifice one of two Real Madrid established stars to accommodate summer signing One of the many players Real Madrid signed back in the summer was Bernardo Silva, who arrived as a free agent from Manchester City. He began looking like one of the possible solutions for Madrid’s early-season problems in the absence of Aurelien Tchouameni. However, he has seen his minutes diminish in recent games and finding a place in Jose Mourinho’s preferred XI doesn’t come without its challenges. According to AS , Bernardo’s most natural route into the midfield would mean dropping either Fede Valverde or Aurelien Tchouameni. The problem is that both are considered about as close to “untouchable” as anyone in Mourinho’s squad. Bernardo offers something Madrid have been missing The Portuguese midfielder’s absence was especially evident in the 2-1 loss to Atletico Madrid, when their inability to control possession and dictate the rhythm of the game was again exposed. Bernardo only played the final 15 minutes, but his introduction coincided with Madrid’s strongest period despite being reduced to 10 men. Bernardo Silva is struggling to find a place in Jose Mourinho’s XI. (Photo by Mateo Villalba Sanchez/Getty Images) It was a small sample, but an intriguing one. Bernardo was not necessarily signed to become Madrid’s primary creator. Yet his enormous experience operating centrally for Manchester City means Mourinho has an obvious option if he wants greater composure in possession. Of Bernardo’s 460 appearances for City, 264 came in midfield roles, around 57 percent of his total. Valverde and Tchouameni complicate the equation Getting him into the Madrid XI regularly is much harder. Bernardo started the opening two league games against Espanyol and Real Sociedad, but has since started only once, against Rayo Vallecano. He enters the international break with 282 minutes this season. The report outlines that this is because of the presence of Tchouameni and Valverde. Aurelien Tchouameni and Fede Valverde are the preferred midfield pairing for Jose Mourinho. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images) Both offer physicality, defensive security and tactical qualities that become particularly valuable in a side containing so many attack-minded players. That leaves Mourinho with a dilemma. Madrid need more control, especially against opponents like Atletico Madrid. Bernardo might provide precisely that, but adding creativity cannot come at the expense of completely destabilising the midfield. The Portuguese tactician needs to come up with some other way of incorporating the control he brings without sacrificing his double pivot. Bernardo has an important role to play for Los Blancos and it remains to be seen how Jose plans on using him after the international break.