Real Madrid Pre-Season Finale: New Signings and Key Decisions

Real Madrid’s summer tune‑up ends in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday, and it’s no soft landing.

Mourinho’s team will close their pre-season with a trip to Schalke 04 on August 16, their last dress rehearsal before La Liga begins on August 22 away to Espanyol. The friendly in Germany is a final look at what this new Madrid might be – and at who is actually ready to start running.

New faces, old expectations

Jose Mourinho finally has the chance to roll out his new signings. Yan Diomande, Marc Cucurella and Ibrahima Konate are all available and all still waiting for their Real Madrid debuts. Gelsenkirchen could be their first taste of white.

Kylian Mbappe is the other headline. Back in training this week after his World Cup break, the forward could make his first appearance under the Portuguese coach on German soil. One game, a handful of minutes maybe, but symbolically enormous for what Madrid hope to become this season.

Bellingham and Tchouameni: the big doubts

The intrigue doesn’t stop there. According to Mundo Deportivo, the real suspense before Schalke revolves around Jude Bellingham and Aurelien Tchouameni.

Bellingham returned to training on Wednesday. Now Mourinho must decide: risk him in Germany or hold him back for Espanyol? The plan is clear for the season – the England international will be restored to his preferred role, operating as an attacking midfielder just behind the centre-forward, where his timing and aggression between the lines can tilt games.

Tchouameni finds himself in a similar limbo. The French midfielder is recovering from a minor muscular issue and is expected to be ready for the league opener. Whether he plays a minute against Schalke is another matter. His battle this year will be inside Madrid’s engine room, where he has to fight off competition from Federico Valverde, Bernardo Silva and Eduardo Camavinga for a place in the double pivot.

Both are central to Mourinho’s blueprint. Both remain, for now, question marks for Sunday.

Injury list and enforced absences

Some absences are non-negotiable. Raul Asencio, Ferland Mendy, Rodrygo, Thiago Pitarch and Eder Militao are all sidelined with injuries and will stay in Madrid to continue their recovery while the rest of the squad travels to Germany.

There is one more late addition. Endrick has suffered a muscle overload and is also expected to miss the Schalke trip. Mourinho will hope the Brazilian, alongside Bellingham and Tchouameni, is ready to be unleashed when the real business starts in Barcelona next week.

La Fabrica’s cash machine keeps spinning

While the first team fine-tune in Germany, the other major storyline of Madrid’s summer is unfolding quietly at Valdebebas. The exodus from the academy shows no sign of slowing down.

Jacobo Ortega is the latest name on the verge of the exit door. The youngster is set for a move to Strasbourg, a deal that would make him the most expensive sale of a Real Madrid youth player yet to feature in the first team. A landmark transfer, and still not the final one.

Madrid are also preparing to let two more academy products go.

Manuel Angel and David Jimenez near the door

According to AS, Manuel Angel and David Jimenez are next in line to depart, with both players effectively at the end of their Castilla cycle.

Interest in the pair is broad – from the top flight to the second division and beyond – but nothing has yet advanced far enough to seal their exits. In the meantime, the club has taken no chances. Both have been training separately and have been left out of Castilla’s pre-season friendlies and matchday squads, a clear attempt to avoid any injury that might complicate negotiations.

Once the Ortega deal and other outgoing moves are wrapped up, Real Madrid’s academy income this summer is expected to surpass €200 million. Internally, it is already being spoken of as a historic window for La Fabrica.

Two standouts from a treble generation

These are not fringe names. Both Manuel Angel and David Jimenez were pillars of Alvaro Arbeloa’s treble-winning academy side, a group that also included Nico Paz and Gonzalo Garcia.

Manuel Angel, 22, is a cerebral midfielder who joined La Fabrica in 2014 and has long been viewed as one of Valdebebas’ brightest products. Ambidextrous, calm, and tactically sharp, he even broke into the first team late last season, making seven appearances. For him, the next step is simple: find a club that can offer consistent minutes, not just cameos.

Jimenez is cut from a different cloth but just as highly rated. An attacking full-back with one of the best right feet in the academy, he has been praised for his leadership and constant drive to push forward, drawing natural comparisons with Dani Carvajal. He too featured for the first team last season, catching the eye under both Xabi Alonso and Arbeloa.

For both players, the question now is not whether they leave, but where they land. Real Madrid, the players and their entourages are all waiting for the right offer – one that fits careers just beginning to open up, at the very moment the first team steps into a new era under Mourinho.