Kylian Mbappe increasingly appears destined to leave Paris Saint-Germain for Real Madrid in the summer.
Each day that goes by represents Mbappe taking small step towards the exit door at PSG, with his contract due to expire on June 30 at Parc des Princes.
While Premier League clubs, most notably Liverpool, have been linked with a move for the World Cup winner, the odds on Real Madrid securing his signature are strong.
Mbappe’s love of the club has been well documented. He was an avid fan of Cristiano Ronaldo as a youth and wants to follow in the Portuguese’s footsteps at the Bernabeu, where Zinedine Zidane previously gave him a guided tour of the facilities.
AS reports that Real Madrid are increasingly confident of signing Mbappe and are already drawing up both sporting and commercial plans to accommodate his arrival in the summer.
But how might a Real Madrid team look with Mbappe in it?
Real Madrid XI with Mbappe
The big question, of course, is how to fit both Mbappe and Benzema in the same XI – if that is even something Carlo Ancelotti wants to do at all.
It is a problem that France head coach Didier Deschamps has attempted to solve in recent months, doing so with incredible success. Mbappe, after all, has seven goals and four assists in his last four internationals, including matches against Belgium, Spain, Kazakhstan and Finland.
Mbappe has played in attack in conjunction with Benzema in these fixtures, with Antoine Griezmann occupying a role just behind this pair.
Carlo Ancelotti could seek to reprise this system at Real Madrid, although he is perhaps lacking in that natural No.10 player. Luka Modric looks the best placed to fill the role.
This change of shape would see Madrid switch to a three-man defence, which probably means that another arrival is required. Chelsea’s Antonio Rudiger is a target, of course, but in the meantime Nacho Fernandez could slot in.
Meanwhile, Dani Carvajal and Ferland Mendy would perform the role of wing-backs, with Toni Kroos and Casemiro the midfield pair, supplemented by Eduardo Camavinga.
Given their red-hot form with France, Mbappe and Benzema have shown their combination is one building a team around – even one as illustrious as Real Madrid.