How Real Madrid could line up with the arrival of Kylian Mbappé

The arrival of the PSG star could clash with Rodrygo’s starting position in two of the potential scenarios or could see the sacrifice of a midfielder.

There has already been white smoke to announce it. Kylian Mbappé has, we hear, agreed to become a Real Madrid player. The saga to secure his signing has taken several years and now we just await the official communication. He is a forward to complete a team designed, season after season, with care and meticulous market scrutiny. The policy has rarely been to seek patches to temporarily cover holes, but instead focus on the main objective, immediate and longer-term solutions. Thus, it is understood that, in the endless wait for the PSG player, the number 9 remained vacant. The jersey and the position, with Benzema’s departure to Saudi Arabia.

Now, Florentino Pérez has his man... and manager Carlo Ancelotti has the enviable job of slotting him into an already sparkling group of players in the present, and one that looks even more dazzling for the future. We’re making a fairly comfortable assumption that the summer horizon will see the likes of Kroos and Modric step aside, and the young Frenchman could slide into three systems.

The first one is pure rock and roll. Speed, muscle, and instinct. The lot. It’s the prototype formation in motion until Jude Bellingham landed. The 4-3-3 of the BBC. Also one with Valverde as a false winger. The letters don’t fit as smoothly as Benzema, Bale, and Cristiano, but Vinicius, Rodrygo, and new-boy Mbappé don’t need initialisms. That said, be ready for Spanish commentators enthusiastically making motorbike noises for multiple rapid attacks from the VRM, VRM, VRM.

Three attackers with sharpness, and an undeniable ability to fluidly interchange