What position would Kylian Mbappé play at Real Madrid?

The forward may sign for the Spanish club that already has a plethora of attacking options: where does he fit?

Kylian Mbappé's move to Real Madrid, after all these years, seems like it may be on the cards. Rumours of the Frenchman’s long-awaited arrival to the Spanish capital have picked up in recent weeks and fans are waiting anxiously for any update on the situation.

Despite the excitement, Carlo Ancelotti faces a real problem if Kylian Mbappé were to join Los Blancos: where does he fit into the modified starting XI?

Where would Mbappé play at Real Madrid?

Picture the scene: Florentino Pérez jovially punches the horn as he chugs home in his van with yet another 3-metre tall lion made of the finest Chinese jade, strapped to the roof with countless bungee cords. The sculpting work is simply exceptional, the shine looks like a million emeralds have been dropped into a glistening ocean and the three lions that he already has at the entrance to his flat will look lovely with another one in line. His face - Florentino’s that is - is smiling like a quokka.

His wife is not happy, however, and looms in the front porch with one quizzical eyebrow lifting off into space. How are they going to fit that through the front door? Why does he keep collecting these ludicrously expensive items that we don’t have room for? Why doesn’t he just buy a new watch instead? Or what about a dog? Something that doesn’t get in the way of me watching daytime television on my cream-coloured chaise longue.

Because Florentino can. And they look lovely. Having three - no, four - jade lions in the front garden might be a problem in this imagined scenario, but Carlo Ancelotti, the wife, has the same issue on the pitch as he does in Florentino’s flat. How is he going to fit all the shiny pieces into such a confined space?

Having Mbappé is great, but there is - as well as four jade lions and a quokka - a huge elephant in the room: the Frenchman plays in exactly the same position currently occupied by Vinicius Jr - would there be any room at Madrid for Kylian if he signed?

Vinicius has become one of the world’s best... in Mbappé's position

Moving Vinicius Jr from the left to put Mbappé in his preferred position would not only be an extremely unlikely move, but also a terribly stupid one. The Brazilian winger has come off the back of his best season ever at Real Madrid, scoring 23 goals and getting 21 assists across the season. The player has cemented himself as potentially the best winger in the world, and one with a range of attacking talents all stemming from his wide position on the left side.

Upsetting the Brazilian and moving him to accommodate Mbappé would likely result in a strain on relationships between the club, players and coaching staff. Not recommended.

Could Mbappé play on the right or as a striker?

Mbappé, if he cannot go on the left, must surely be good on the right, right? Well, unfortunately, it’s not as easy as that. According to data from BeSoccerPro, Mbappé has played on the right just 2% of the time at PSG, with just 1.5% of chances created by him coming from that area. For context, the opposite side of the pitch has over 13% of chances, and it is clearly the area with the highest levels of production from the player.

The data ranks right winger as Mbappé's 8th most fruitful position on the pitch, according to their models. The body angles are different, the pitch does not open up in the same way for a right-footer on the right and clearly Mbappé is not comfortable or used to that role. And then there’s Rodrygo, who excels on the right and has played there for 87% of the time, creating over 13% of his chances on that side of the pitch. Rodrygo may well be sacrificed from the XI and in that case I’ll have egg on my face, but at this moment in time, it seems that Ancelotti’s faith in the former Santos player is a strong one.

“When you have eliminated all which is impossible then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” The famous line from Arthur Conan-Doyle applies here as we have weaved out way through the front line and landed on centre-forward. Karim Benzema is long gone, as is his shirt number at Real Madrid.

Despite Joselu’s positive record this season, the middle of the pitch is absent of a world class centre-forward and it turns out that Mbappé thrives here, having played this role for PSG for the majority of the time, with former World Cup winner Emmanuel Petit recently suggesting the tactical switch in an exclusive talk with AS USA. It seems like the best fit for the player, as he seems comfortable enough not to feel out of place. You can never have too many jade lions; I guess Florentino was right.