Jose Mourinho has made a fast start in the transfer window at Real Madrid despite the World Cup being under way with the free transfer of Bernardo Silva following hot on the heels of Marc Cucurella’s £51.8m signing from Chelsea.

Real Madrid’s newly re-elected president Florentino Perez has also lined up the £17m signing of right-back Denzel Dumfries from Inter and the free transfer of centre-back Ibrahima Konate who is out of contract at Liverpool at the end of the month.

The signings of Silva, 31, Cucurella, 27, Dumfries, 30, and Konate, 27, show there has been a clear change of transfer strategy at Real Madrid. The focus has shifted from young players with promise to experienced players who are ready to be thrown straight in.

Cucurella, for instance, is the first signing over 25 to have arrived at Real Madrid for a transfer fee of more than £2m since the summer of 2019, when Eden Hazard was signed from Chelsea in a deal worth well in excess of £100m.

Real Madrid have brought in experienced players in the intervening period but only on free transfers. Silva and Konate are just the latest following on from Antonio Rudiger, David Alaba, Kylian Mbappe and Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Last summer the average age of Real Madrid’s signings – Dean Huijsen, Alvaro Carreras, Franco Mastantuono and Trent Alexander-Arnold – was just over 21 years old compared to nearly 29 years old in this window so far.

Mourinho has often relied more on tried-and-tested players during his career, but because of the pressure everyone at Real Madrid is under after failing to win LaLiga or the Champions League for the past two seasons, experience is required more than ever.

Real Madrid’s business is expected to continue beyond the four signings already secured. Perez made big promises during his re-election campaign about making a mega-signing this summer, and none of the players they have signed match that description.