FEATURE | Osimhen? Rashford? How do PSG replace Kylian Mbappé?

“Sooner or later, we’ll have to get used to playing without Kylian Mbappé .” Luís Enrique’s mantra in recent weeks has justified a choice to drop Mbappé in Ligue 1 fixtures, replacing him definitively will become an obligation this summer.

Luis Enrique’s reasons for dropping Mbappé in Ligue 1, though criticised and derided by those who question the logic of wilfully depriving yourself of arguably the best player in the world, are well founded. Mbappé won’t be at Paris Saint-Germain next season. That much has been evident for some time. Whilst his departure is not official, he has already informed PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi that he will not stay at the Parc des Princes beyond the end of his contract, which expires at the end of the season.

With a third successive Ligue 1 title a nigh-on certainly for some time, and mathematically assured as of Sunday, why not plan for life post-Mbappé? In his absence, Luis Enrique has been able to experiment. Gonçalo Ramos, who has garnered significant criticism since his big-money move in the summer, has been the major benefactor. The Portuguese forward has nine in his last 11 in Ligue 1having scored just threein his first 15.

Bradley Barcola, a free hit signing and one brought in with the medium to long-term future in mind, has also impressed. Whilst he does not yet possess – and may never possess – Mbappé’s sang-froid in front of goal, he certainly has the technique and dribbling ability to rival the France captain. He no longer resembles the “little lamb” that RMC Sport’s Daniel Rioli described him as back in November. 

Barcola is an image, in many ways, of what Mbappé was, but not what he has become. Whilst Mbappé still shows flashes of what he once was, he has evolved as