Kylian Mbappe shows shift in strategy to leave Real Madrid in uncharted territory

The signing of Kylian Mbappe has echoes of the recruitment of David Beckham two decades ago — and could similarly imperil their dominance

Florentino Perez may have been keen to grandstand at Real Madrid’s general assembly on Sunday, but some of his stars have been more concerned with just standing still. Almost literally. One player recently complained to friends - and anyone else who would listen - that the forward line does not run enough. It is not just one star’s gripe, either.

You only have to watch some of the matches. Madrid don’t look as finely honed as in recent seasons.

It’s not difficult to see what has changed. Kylian Mbappe has been signed on a wage befitting his status as one of the best in the world. This is the kind of star that Perez has long felt defined Madrid, and his staff have worked hard to get them back to that level over a difficult half-decade in financial terms. The recent Champions League victories were a product of compromise rather than complete power. Madrid had been forensically studious about every signing, ensuring each one fit into a 10-year plan.

No more. They’re back to the biggest. That fits with the bombast at Sunday’s general assembly, where Perez evidently felt so confident in his current position that he took aim at Uefa and putative allies in Fifa over the calendar, re-asserted the future of the Super League, and even began moves to alter Madrid’s member-owned structure. The latter would be a landmark moment for football, and push the club into a new era. The wonder is whether some of this also brings everything full circle, and back to the first time Perez enjoyed such power.

Real Madrid’s forward line has taken time to gel this season (Getty Images)

That was in the summer of 2003, when the first Galactico model had been so commercially successful that the president decided to go even further. He insisted on signing the game’s most commercial player, in David Beckham.

It made financial sense but didn’t make football sense. There was no obvious place for Beckham, as illustrated by how his arrival necessitated the sale of crucial defensive midfielder Claude Makelele. A team full of self-assured stars lost their centre of gravity and collapsed, winning nothing for four years.

If it won’t necessarily go that far now, is it possible that Mbappe’s signing represents a modern Beckham-for-Makelele? As with the former Manchester United winger, that isn’t to question Mbappe as a player. It’s just that there was no real football need for him, and it feels like ego and status have been prioritised over what works for the team.

Madrid’s clear direction has now been diverted. Mbappe has been forced in as number nine, even though his best position is coming in off the left, and his interpretation of the forward role alters the whole dynamic. Madrid are now entirely anchored to when Mbappe runs, which diminishes the movement of other players. Jude Bellingham has been forced out of a role where he excelled, and became the club’s dominant player. Vinicius Junior’s position is wider, even though a licence to come inside previously made him the club’s defining and decisive player. The Brazilian is a big reason why Mbappe isn’t in his best role.

So, Madrid have more high-quality players without the team actually looking higher quality. If anything, they’ve been easier to get at, with little added on.

Some close to the dressing room feel Mbappe’s goal against Leganes on Sunday was a case in point. It came from Vinicius brilliantly surging through with a piece of individual inspiration, before unselfishly squaring for Mbappe when he could have shot. The French star boosted his numbers but was almost immaterial to the move. Anyone could have been there.

Kylian Mbappe scored against Leganes but it was not a goal that showed his individual brilliance (Getty Images)

The goal didn’t come from Mbappe’s individual quality, but then Madrid aren’t set up to suit that. As with the Beckham-era Galacticos, it is like they are now arranged to accommodate talent rather than maximise it. Mbappe’s signing has ultimately forced them into changes Carlo Ancelotti didn’t need to make, compounding Toni Kroos’s retirement. Big wages could have been used elsewhere.

This isn’t hindsight either. It was being said by some people close to the top of the club last season, right up to the eve of the victorious Champions League final win over Borussia Dortmund. Many maintained there was no obvious place for Mbappe in the team, but that was accompanied by a common line. “Our president, he can get this star, so he wants him.”

That is the story of Madrid again, but may yet lead to a twist.

It should be acknowledged there were other elements to this signing. Mbappe’s career ambition was to play at Madrid, and it was why they didn’t have to pay as much as expected in wages. The paradox of modern football was that, as with Lionel Messi leaving Barcelona, Mbappe was too expensive to have much choice.

Kylian Mbappe was unveiled by Florentino Perez, president of Real Madrid (Getty Images)

His story is almost one of the importance of the right move at the right time. Had Mbappe gone to Madrid in the summer of 2022, as was expected, the team would have been his. He would have been the Galactico. Mbappe instead arrived to a fully-formed team that had been steadily built to a clear plan devised by Juni Calafat, designed to define the club for a decade. That sense of planning doesn’t fully synch with this signing, and it’s similar with the team. Some players have expressed private concern about performances so far.

It should be stressed that there are no dressing room tensions, and stars always want to play with the best. The relevant point is that there is now greater potential for tension. The pathways of young talents like Endrick and Arda Guler have certainly been disrupted. Clubs such as Arsenal may well eye similar deals as they got with Martin Odegaard, especially with Guler known to want more playing time.

This is all really about satisfying one ego above all, though. Perez got his man, and his desire. He has restored a sense of grandeur to the club, that Madrid have the best. It is in-keeping with the power that he has accumulated at the Bernabeu. A president voted in through a democratic process has instead almost become an emperor. Perez was the only eligible candidate for the last member elections, and nobody would now dream of challenging him. His power is almost complete, to the point he can actually propose changes to this distinctive membership structure and it is applauded by those same members.

Florentino Perez’s ego has been appeased, potentially costing Real Madrid their superiority (Getty Images)

Perez insisted the club will still belong to the fans but it will involve “corporate reorganisation”. The debt has gone up at the same rate as Perez’s assurance. Will this involve the sale of a stake to one of the Gulf state funds that he has long railed against? Self-reflection isn’t necessarily one of Perez’s best qualities.

For now, this is uncharted territory. There is also new uncertainty in the team There isn’t the same flow. They don’t work as well. That has manifested in a poor Champions League campaign so far. They probably need a result at Liverpool on Wednesday if they are to make the top eight.

A player like Mbappe is of course capable of turning it on. These issues are by no means endemic. This is Real Madrid, after all, and in the Champions League at that.

It’s also a Real Madrid that suddenly reflect some of the club’s more notorious qualities, rather than their most prized.