Kylian Mbappé, who has been one of the best footballers in the world for the last few years, has finally signed for Real Madrid after a lot of drama that surrounded his departure from his former club Paris Saint-Germain.
The 25-year-old French forward has already scored his first goal for Real in their 2-0 win over Atalanta in the UEFA Super Cup. He is a prized signing for Los Blancos and should be able to make his mark donning the illustrious white jersey.
Real Madrid with Many Options in Attack
Real Madrid has a number of players who can play through the left or, one could say, prefer to play through the left. Vinícius Júnior, Jude Bellingham and Mbappé himself are all comfortable playing as a left winger, although Bellingham can play as a No. 10 as well.
Rodrygo, the Brazilian forward, can play on the right or as the centre-forward. Federico Valverde can also play on the right flank, but it cannot be denied that Real have more players capable of playing on the left at the moment than on the right. That creates a problem of symmetry for the team, which needs to be addressed properly.
Carlo Ancelotti must be having that in his mind already and must have already chalked out his plan to utilize Mbappé effectively. The Frenchman’s speed, ball-skills and ability to score goals must be of great use to his new club.
Mbappé Scored Often for PSG
Mbappé has scored 256 goals in 308 matches for PSG, which is an incredible record. The French Ligue 1 is, however, less competitive than La Liga and hence, replicating those kind of numbers while playing for Real is not going to be easy for him.
However, he will be surrounded by better players overall at Real, which should pave the way for more goal-scoring opportunities. The likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema have had great scoring rates for Real in the recent past. Thus, there are enough examples for Mbappe to emulate.
His eyes, however, will be on the biggest prize of them all – the UEFA Champions League. Real Madrid has won the title a staggering 15 times – including last season – and remains the perennial favourites to win the title every year. Hence, Mbappe will fancy his chances of being a part of a Champions League winning team.
Real has the most enviable collections of youngsters among all the clubs in the world currently and hence, the future looks pretty bright for them. It will not be an overstatement to say that Mbappé is the brightest of those jewels and should be a very key component in the Real Madrid set-up for the upcoming seasons.
As he has finally got to the club he aspired to play for, it is now up to the Frenchman to rise and deliver for them. It remains to be seen whether he is able to continue performing for them the way he has for PSG in the past.
Given his heft salary and reputation, Mbappé will have high expectations by media and fans at Real. Whether the Frenchman can live up to them is another question.