Florentino Pérez spent €225 million, rehired José Mourinho, and brought in six first-team players. Three games in, Madrid are level with Barcelona on points at the top of La Liga. So far, so good — but the transfer grades tell a more complicated story.
This is Madrid's biggest single-window outlay since 2019, and the stakes are obvious. Two trophyless seasons will do that. Mourinho's return alone shifted the mood at the Bernabéu, but personnel moves like these will ultimately define whether this project succeeds or flatters to deceive.
The deals that make sense
Marc Cucurella — A+
This one was overdue. After years of rotating between Álvaro Carreras, Fran García and the perpetually injured Ferland Mendy, Madrid's left back problem was becoming a structural flaw. Cucurella fixes it. Mourinho reportedly made him a non-negotiable demand, and Pérez delivered. The Chelsea exit fee was surprisingly manageable for a 27-year-old World Cup winner who defends, attacks and gets under opponents' skin better than almost anyone in Europe. His Barcelona past is irrelevant. He's the signing of the window.
Bernardo Silva — B+
A free transfer from Manchester City after nine seasons and a cabinet full of trophies. Silva arrives at 32 with the kind of elite-level muscle memory that money can't buy. He'll operate as one of two pivots in Mourinho's 4-2-3-1, and while his legs won't carry him through 50 games, his presence — on the pitch and in the dressing room — is genuinely valuable. The caveat: he is not a defensive midfielder. Madrid still don't have a Rodri-type controller, and that gap hasn't gone away.
Carlos Espí — B
The signing nobody saw coming, including apparently Espí himself. Mourinho wanted a plan-B striker in the Joselu mould — someone to do a specific, unglamorous job — and the 21-year-old has already justified his place with a 90th-minute winner against Espanyol on his La Liga debut. He's not going to threaten Mbappé's starting spot. He doesn't need to.
The deals that need more time
Denzel Dumfries — B-
Activating his release clause made sense on paper. Dumfries is an established attacking weapon — two Serie A titles, two Champions League finals, and a performance against Barcelona in the 2024-25 semifinals that Madrid fans still remember fondly. But he's 30, and the right back role he's competing for with Trent Alexander-Arnold has a known defensive vulnerability. Dumfries doesn't solve that problem. He offers more of the same going forward, more lung-busting runs and crosses, while Europe's elite continue to probe the same channel. Opponents won't have missed that.
Ibrahima Konaté — C
The free transfer logic is sound. The player himself is the question. Konaté has all the physical tools — 6'5", elite in the air, covers ground like few centre-backs alive — but his form at Liverpool deteriorated badly enough that the Anfield fanbase was relatively unmoved by his departure. He barely started at the World Cup, featuring only in the third-place match, a 6-4 defeat to England that was not exactly a defensive audition. Mourinho rebuilding his confidence could unlock something real. But that's a big 'if' to anchor your backline around.
Yan Diomande — B-
A 19-year-old with roughly a year of senior football as your club-record signing. That's either visionary or reckless, and the answer won't be clear for another 18 months. Diomande is genuinely exciting — one of the most talked-about prospects in world football — but slotting him into an attack alongside Vinícius, Mbappé and Bellingham is an enormous ask. Mourinho is easing him in slowly, which is the right call. The pressure of being a club-record buy at that age, in that squad, is a different kind of weight entirely.
- Marc Cucurella: A+ — Solves a long-standing problem, perfect Mourinho fit
- Bernardo Silva: B+ — Elite experience on a free, but not the midfield controller Madrid need
- Carlos Espí: B — Already scored, doing exactly the job he was signed for
- Denzel Dumfries: B- — Attack-minded addition that doesn't address Madrid's defensive right flank concerns
- Yan Diomande: B- — Club-record outlay on a teenager is a high-risk bet on potential
- Ibrahima Konaté: C — The upside is real, but so is the recent evidence pointing the other way
Three wins from three and level with Barcelona on goal difference. The window has the look of a statement. Whether the C grades drag the whole project down is what the next eight months will settle.
