Mourinho seizes on Yamal to reassure the Real Madrid dressing room: what did he say about Los Blancos' players?

There is no place for him among the Real Madrid players

José Mourinho is back at Real Madrid on a mission to reclaim titles, and his first big interview has already lit a fuse in Spain. The Portuguese delivered a double message: lavish praise for Barcelona alongside a flat refusal to entertain any idea of signing their teenage jewel, Lamine Yamal.

He was speaking on the Spanish programme "El Chiringuito", right as the Spanish season kicked off. Reigning champions Barcelona start the campaign brimming with confidence. Real Madrid, meanwhile, open a new chapter of radical change with Mourinho back in the dugout.

Calm at first, he soon slipped into the candid, direct style everyone knows. He didn't hold back in praising Barcelona's project under Hansi Flick and sporting director Deco, a man he coached at Porto.

"I liked it, it is excellent work carried out between Hansi Flick and Deco, and of course the players, I liked it a lot," Mourinho said, admiration ringing through.

Then came the question about Yamal, Barcelona's teenage star and a European and world champion. His answer was decisive and surprising, an emphatic show of loyalty to his current squad.

"I don't want him," he added. "He is without doubt a young player with enormous potential, it is not usual for someone to be a European and world champion at the age of nineteen, but we have a top-class team, I will not make room for any other player at the moment. Right now they are my team's players, and they are the best."

Two messages in one, then. Reassurance for the Real Madrid dressing room, respect for the old rival, and the perfect spark for a season that looks set to catch fire from the very first rounds.