Too Much Talent: How will Real Madrid play with Mbappe?

With the signing of Kylian Mbappe confirmed, and another Champions League trophy added to the cabinet, Real Madrid are having a good couple of weeks. But now, with a team loaded with young talent, how will Carlo Ancelotti get the most out of his players, and keep them happy as he does so? All stats provided by Transfermarkt unless otherwise stated.

Mbappe has primarily been thought of as a left-winger during his early career, but last season saw him start 15 games as a center-forward and just nine on the left, which should help ease him into the side without disrupting Vinicius Junior.

Per Coaches’ Voice, Carlo Ancelotti has, “favoured an in-possession 4-3-3, with the aim of getting the most of the wide forwards' dribbling ability,” during his latest stint at Madrid. However, the acquisition of Jude Bellingham has seen them adopt a slight variant of that system, with the Englishman playing as a “false nine”.

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Bellingham’s performances forced Don Carlo’s hand, as the former Dortmund midfielder slotted home 19 league goals last season, making him Los Blancos’ top scorer. Adding Mbappe certainly won’t change Bellingham’s importance, but it could be a difficult puzzle to solve to fit them on the pitch together.

Could Ancelotti look to change shape and adopt a more classical 4-2-3-1 formation, with Eduardo Camavinga or Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni sitting as the midfield pairing?

Rodrygo was a nearly ever-present player in Madrid’s side last year, racking up 2,391 minutes in La Liga, making him the third-most played player behind Fede Valverde and Antonio Rudiger. Will he be happy to warm the bench in the coming seasons?

In Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo, and Mbappe Madrid will feature three fast, direct players all willing to take on and beat their opposing numbers, but could their attack potentially look as dimensional with all of them on the field at once?

As Trigger The Press notes, “Mbappe is one of the worst wingers in Europe when it comes to defensive work-rate,” could this leave Madrid’s defence, as good as it is, vulnerable in transition?

Mbappe’s defensive statistics are awful, with the Frenchman finishing in the bottom 3% of tackles made for a winger and in the bottom 1% for tackles won, per Trigger The Press.

Depending on Ancelotti’s plans, this could force the midfield (whether it’s a two or three) to play deeper as they will be worried about being countered and defending essentially a man down as Mbappe refuses to involve himself in defensive work.

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As we noted earlier, Jude Bellingham became an attacking force in his first year at Real, but could Mbappe’s presence force him into a more traditional “box-to-box” role?

Since the 2017/18 season, in which he played 18 times and scored 10 goals from the right, Mbappe hasn’t played more than a handful of games from his unfavoured side. Would he be willing to shift across and allow Don Carlo to keep his favoured 4-3-1-2 system?

Of course, adding Mbappe makes Madrid go from great to seemingly invincible, but it will require changes. We think Ancelotti will employ a slight variant of his 4-3-3 formation, with the regular defensive four covered by a dynamic midfield of Valverde, Camavinga, and Bellingham. Mbappe will slide into centre-forward, allowing Vini and Rodrygo to remain on the wings.

Mbappe has reportedly been given a €150 million (£128 million/$164 million) signing-on fee in addition to his €15 million (£12.8 million/$16.4 million) annual salary. Madrid president Florentino Pérez simply won’t allow an investment like that not to work. Ancelotti will need to find a system that works, and fast.

In a football world with powerhouses like Bayern Munich and Manchester City, Real Madrid are still able to attract the greatest names in football with remarkable consistency. We don’t see a world in which they don’t defend their Champions League title next season, and could perhaps be at the beginning of a previously unseen level of dominance.

Some in the footballing world will have their doubts about adding such a big-name player to an already dominant side, but what do you think? Let us know in the comments!

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