Marca: Despite failing to sign Rodri, Real Madrid are still quite satisfied with this transfer window.

According to Marca, Real Madrid are still quite satisfied with this transfer window despite failing to sign Rodri.

Real Madrid's final day of the transfer window was relatively quiet. Manuel Angel's move to Fulham was completed, with no other major moves. The club had been monitoring Chema Andres' departure to the Premier League, which would have brought in another €11.5 million, but aside from that, Real Madrid were just one of the observers in the closing stages of the transfer window. During that time, European giants like Manchester City and Barcelona were extremely busy.

In fact, Real Madrid could be said to have closed this transfer window as early as August 6th. At that time, the club released an official announcement confirming the signing of Jan Diomande from RB Leipzig. This was Real Madrid's biggest expenditure this summer, with a fixed transfer fee of €125 million. The club is currently carefully managing his usage, exercising restraint in his playing time, as Real Madrid does not want to place additional pressure on the Ivorian player on top of his already high price tag.

Mourinho, the dominant figure

The person directly in charge of this operation was Mourinho, who was Real Madrid's first signing of the 2026-27 season. This was confirmed during Florentino Luis's campaign, even before the club members' vote. In fact, names like Konaté or Dumfries were also mentioned in the same round of voting, and the club quickly made official announcements in July for both.

The first few weeks of July coincided with the World Cup, and most of Real Madrid's moves were concentrated during that period. The most surprising, and almost unnoticed, signing Cucurella was the second-highest expenditure of the summer, reaching €55 million, and the official announcement even predated Bernardo Silva's signing by about two days. By the end of the month, Real Madrid confirmed another unexpected signing: Espírito Espi from Levante for a transfer fee of €25 million.

Espírito, Bernardo, Cucurella, and Dumfries all came into Barcelona's sights, with Bernardo also being considered by Atlético Madrid. Real Madrid ultimately won all the races, except for Rodri. The former Manchester City midfielder ultimately chose Barcelona's offer, despite Real Madrid's all-out effort to sign him. Mourinho called this signing "the cherry of the transfer window." In fact, Real Madrid internally believed that Rodri's decision was purely for sporting reasons, as their offer was very competitive financially, possibly even higher than that of the Catalan side.

Youth academy players provide funding for transfers

Therefore, Real Madrid brought in Mourinho, a "manager" with real power, this summer, as well as several players who can provide depth and experience to the team's squad - Cucurella, Bernardo, Dumfries, Konaté, Diomande and Espírito. The only regret is that they failed to sign Rodri.

Nevertheless, Real Madrid can still be credited with a high score for this summer transfer window. More importantly, this transfer market was almost entirely funded by the sale of academy players. Including Chema's move to Brighton, Real Madrid earned approximately €211 million from the sale of academy players, thus keeping the club's financial statements healthy.

Of course, the most important aspect—the competitive aspect—cannot be ignored; the team's signals at the start of the new season couldn't be more positive. Moreover, Real Madrid doesn't have to endure the tense process of constantly checking their phones on transfer deadline day, only to find out the final result at 11:59 PM.