Weekends don’t come much better than the one just enjoyed by Real Madrid. Not content with winning their 15th Champions League title on Saturday, news broke on Sunday that Los Blancos had finally concluded the signing of Kylian Mbappe. Official confirmation came on Monday that football’s longest-running transfer saga had come to an end.
Mbappe is a generational talent. He is one of the best players in the world and has been for a number of years, scoring an incredible 256 goals in 308 games for Paris Saint-Germain. At 25, Mbappe is entering the peak years of his career which he will spend at the Santiago Bernabeu after signing a five-year contract to join the European champions.
On the basis of talent alone, Mbappe will fit right in as a Real Madrid player. There is, however, doubt over how Carlo Ancelotti will squeeze another attacking threat into a team also well-stocked for forwards. Vinicius Junior, like Mbappe, likes to play off the left side, so where will the Frenchman operate for his new team?
This is the tactical conundrum Ancelotti must ponder before the start of the 2024/25 campaign. The Italian remoulded Real Madrid to find a role for Jude Bellingham last summer and might have to do something similar to get the best out of Mbappe in all-white. One way or another, though, Mbappe will make Real Madrid better.
That is a frightening though for the rest of Spanish and European football considering how strong Real Madrid were this season. Los Blancos lost just once over 51 matches in La Liga and the Champions League. They knocked out Manchester City and Bayern Munich to win a sixth European crown in 11 seasons and played exhilarating football along the way.
With Mbappe in the team, though, Real Madrid will be even more dangerous. It’s possible that Ancelotti will revert to a 4-3-3 shape to fit Mbappe and Vinicius into the same lineup with Bellingham pushed back into central midfield following the retirement of Toni Kroos. This would at least get Real Madrid’s best players on the pitch at the same time.
For years, Mbappe has publicly stated his preference for playing on the left wing over starting as a centre forward. This is part of the reason, he says, the forward has produced his best form for France where he most commonly plays off Olivier Giroud as the centre forward in Didier Deschamps’ national team.
It remains to be seen how Mbappe will be asked to play for Real Madrid, but Ancelotti’s split-striker approach could be something that allows the Frenchman to play a slightly adapted version of his natural game. Mbappe might have to learn to attack from the right side on occasion, but he might still prefer that over operating as a conventional number nine.
Of course, Real Madrid have made big signings before that haven’t worked out. Eden Hazard, most recently, was a flop at the Santiago Bernabeu, but he made the move to the Spanish capital just as injuries started to take a hold of him. Ultimately, Hazard was never fit enough to make an impact in all-white. Mbappe, by contrast, is at the peak of his physical prowess.
PSG always felt like an awkward fit for Mbappe. While the French giants collected Ligue 1 titles with the forward in the team, Mbappe was never truly given the platform to showcase his talent at the elite level of the game – primarily in the Champions League. At Real Madrid, the stage will be Mbappe’s. They’ve spent a long time preparing it for him.
