To serve Mourinho: Real Madrid have a golden bench worth 600 million
"I was looking at the substitutes' bench, and all the players were there except for the injured ones, and all I could see was quality." That was how Jose Mourinho, Real Madrid's manager, explained his position after the win over Rayo Vallecano, with a number of his players gradually returning to fitness.
It also means he has to make decisions about who plays and who does not. To hand Diomande his first start, the Portuguese kept Arda Guler on the bench, even after the player shone during his 23 minutes on the pitch. That is where the questions began.
Mourinho said: "Guler plays a lot when he is on the pitch, but I am 100% certain that if Diomande had not started, the first question would have been: when will Diomande play?"
According to AS newspaper, Mourinho had 12 players waiting for their turn against Rayo Vallecano, with a combined market value of 537 million euros, according to the Transfermarkt website.
Take Guler himself. His value stands at 90 million euros, placing him among the 25 most expensive players in the world in terms of market value.
The Turkish player's value alone exceeds the entire market value of the Rayo Vallecano squad, which stands at 86.85 million euros. It also surpasses five other teams in La Liga: Malaga, Alaves, Elche, Osasuna and Levante.
Sitting alongside Guler were Tchouameni at 70 million euros, and Huijsen, Arnold and Cucurella, the world champion, at 60 million euros each. Then came Camavinga at 50 million, Endrick at 40 million, Brahim Diaz at 35 million, Carlos Espi, Thiago Pitarch and Raul Asencio at 20 million each, and Andriy Lunin at 12 million euros.
Only 19 clubs in the entire world own squads worth more than the 537 million euros represented by Real Madrid's 12 substitutes. In the Spanish league, just two squads top that figure: Barcelona, worth 1.2656 billion euros, and Atletico Madrid, worth 679.7 million euros. Villarreal, the fourth most expensive in the competition, come in at 331.6 million euros.
Mourinho has used 19 players so far this season. With Diomande starting for the first time, 17 players have now featured in Real Madrid's starting line-up across the first six games. Only two have yet to start: Tchouameni, who is working on his fitness and match rhythm after injury, and Carlos Espi.
Lunin, Asencio and Endrick are still awaiting their first appearance, and the latter two have picked up injuries. Militao, Mendy and Rodrygo remain on the injury list.
