Jose Mourinho's Return to Real Madrid and Its Impact on the Midfield Market
Jose Mourinho’s looming return to Real Madrid is already casting a long shadow over Europe’s midfield market – and the ripple could reach all the way to Anfield.
The Portuguese coach is expected to be confirmed as Madrid’s new head coach, with multiple top-level outlets aligning on the same story: the Bernabéu is bracing for a reunion. That doesn’t just mean a new touchline presence. It means a new spine, a new hierarchy, and potentially a new casualty in the centre of the pitch.
Mourinho’s First Demand
Spanish outlet Cope reports that Mourinho has identified a priority: a specialist defensive midfielder. The name at the top of his list is Morten Hjulmand of Sporting CP.
Hjulmand has drawn admiring glances from across Europe after his rise in Portugal, and Madrid’s interest would move him into a different bracket entirely. If Mourinho gets his way and the club push ahead for the Dane this summer, the knock-on effect could be dramatic.
Because Real Madrid are already stacked in central areas. Someone would have to move.
Alarm Bells at Anfield
That is where Liverpool come in.
The Premier League club have long tracked two of Madrid’s most coveted young midfielders: Aurélien Tchouaméni and Eduardo Camavinga. Both have been linked repeatedly with a switch to Anfield over the past few years.
Tchouaméni himself has admitted how close he came. In an interview with Le Parisien, he spoke openly about nearly joining Liverpool back in 2022, before ultimately choosing Madrid. The admiration from Merseyside never really cooled.
Now the door creaks open again.
Reports in England suggest Tchouaméni could be allowed to leave this summer, with the Telegraph claiming Manchester United are monitoring his situation. If Mourinho insists on bringing in Hjulmand as his midfield anchor, the Frenchman suddenly looks like the obvious high-value asset who could be sacrificed.
Liverpool, searching for a long-term solution at the base of their midfield, would not need a second invitation.
A Midfielder Under Pressure
Tchouaméni’s situation in Madrid has grown more complicated.
As of 20 May 2026, the 26-year-old has clocked up 49 appearances this season, a figure that underlines his importance on paper. Yet the mood around the club is anything but calm. Barcelona’s back-to-back La Liga titles have turned the temperature up at the Bernabéu, and the pressure has seeped into the dressing room.
Earlier this month, that tension spilled over. Tchouaméni was involved in a physical training-ground altercation with teammate Federico Valverde. President Florentino Pérez moved quickly to downplay the incident in public, but the story leaked heavily and fed into a narrative of a squad on edge.
For a player already under scrutiny, it was another unwelcome spotlight.
A Market About to Move
Put those pieces together and the picture becomes clear. Mourinho wants a destroyer in midfield. Hjulmand fits the brief. Madrid need to balance minutes, personalities and, potentially, the books. Tchouaméni sits right at the crossroads of all three.
Manchester United are circling. Liverpool, who still lack a natural, elite-level defensive midfielder to lock down their evolving engine room, have every reason to step into the race if Madrid open formal talks.
The first big decision of Mourinho’s second era in Madrid might not be who he signs. It might be who he’s prepared to let go – and which English giant moves quickest when that decision finally lands.
