Mourinho’s ‘Operation Exit’ hits Real Madrid home-grown quota snag | OneFootball

Real Madrid’s clear-out under José Mourinho is running into UEFA home-grown limits, with only one Spaniard among five summer signings and more exits planned, according to El Periódico Mediterráneo.

Mourinho arrived from Benfica after Madrid paid 15 million euros. The recruits are Ibrahima Konaté, Denzel Dumfries, due to be announced within hours, Bernardo Silva and Marc Cucurella. A centre-back and a midfielder are still targeted and are not expected to be Spanish.

Champions League squads permit 25 players, with 17 places unrestricted. The other eight must be association-trained, four of them club-trained.

Classification is based on where a player trained between ages 15 and 21, not nationality. So Valverde, Vinícius, Rodrygo and, from this summer, Arda can count as national, while Brahím Díaz does not after time at Manchester City.

Last season Madrid counted 10 national players, Carvajal, Asencio, Carreras, Fran García, Camavinga, Valverde, Ceballos, Rodrygo, Vinícius and Gonzalo. Carvajal will not continue, Asencio, Fran García, Ceballos and Gonzalo are on the market, with buy-back for Gonzalo, and Madrid are listening to offers for Carreras and Camavinga. Only Vinícius and Rodrygo are safe.

Arda Guler and Cucurella would lift the national tally to five. Madrid may need to keep Carreras and Gonzalo and add another national, potentially Thiago Pitarch, despite Mourinho not initially planning to include him. The coach wants to clear Spanish players from the squad, so Florentino Pérez must find a fix, with domestic targets such as Rodri or Real Sociedad’s Jon Martín viewed as potential solutions.

Source: El Periódico Mediterráneo