Real Madrid decide to hand Kylian Mbappe new number

Real Madrid have decided to give Kylian Mbappe a fresh number, just a year after arriving at the Santiago Bernabeu. The Frenchman and the club are both keen on the switch for the Frenchman.

The original plan when Mbappe arrived was to hand him the number 10 shirt last summer, but Luka Modric renewed his deal, somewhat unexpectedly, and retained the number though. ESPN say that Mbappe was willing to spend another season wearing number 9, were Modric to have stayed.

There were not many candidates for the number this summer, and Mbappe’s switch will form part of their marketing strategy, the iconic number 10 normally being the best selling. Mbappe also wears number 10 for the France national side, and the decision came as much from the club as it did from Mbappe.

The alternative options would have been Arda Guler at the age of 20 and without a guaranteed starting spot, or perhaps Franco Mastantuono, who will arrive in August. The 18-year-old will already have no shortage of pressure on him as he adapts to life on a new continent following a €63m. Rodrygo Goes, who wears the number 11, looks to be on his way out of the club.

It may well be an impetus for Mbappe to put last season behind him. Although he finished as the Pichichi, and performed well in the second half of the season, Los Blancos’ situation made it a first campaign short on joy. Mbappe and Vinicius Junior remain at the eye of the storm over concerns over their work-rate too.

It would leave a vacancy at the number nine spot, and with no sign of a centre-forward coming through the door, that will be another discussion. The obvious candidates to wear the number 9 would be Gonzalo Garcia Torres or Endrick Felipe, but neither have the usual star power of a quintessential Real Madrid number 9 at this stage in their career.