Real Madrid And Alonso Warned About Mbappe By France Legend Platini
Real Madrid and its new head coach Xabi Alonso have been sent a warning about Kylian Mbappe by France legend Michel Platini.
Mbappe famously joined Los Blancos on a free transfer from Paris Saint-Germain last summer, and then went on to win the Pichichi in Spain as La Liga's top scorer on 31 goals while also warding off the likes of Viktor Gyokeres and Mohamed Salah with 43 strikes in all competitions to claim the Golden Boot as Europe's top marksman.
That aside, Madrid still finished 2024/2025 without major silverware thanks to a newfound domestic dominance from FC Barcelona and a Champions League quarterfinal knockout administered by Arsenal.
Though there are many factors behind such a fall from grace after Madrid won a La Liga, UCL and Super Cup treble under Carlo Ancelotti the previous term, having to shoehorn Mbappe into an attack that didn't really need him has been cited as a possible reason for Madrid falling short in its attempt to repeat such success.
And with Ancelotti since replaced by Xabi Alonso, Platini sent a warning to the new manager and Madrid about how to get the best out of his countryman.
"Mbappe is a phenomenal guy. He has scored 43 goals in Spain. He won the Golden Boot, he is the top scorer in Europe. That means he's been good," Platini noted, while added that the 26-year-old achieved this 'playing for a team that hasn't had a great year'
'Real Madrid is also getting older,' Platini also said, before calling Mbappe a phenomenon.
'He is a striker who scores. [But]
"I don't understand what the new coaches think. He is a striker who scores. That's the most important thing. Then, you have to be clear about one thing: either you build a team for him, or you build a team so that he plays well. That is the difficulty," Platini warned.
Choosing how his attack will line up is one of Alonso's key decisions in the Bernabeu dugout, with both Mbappe and Vinicius Jr. showing a preference for the left flank. Mbappe currently adopts a central 9 role as a striker, so things might stay as is with Vinicius on the left.
This summer, however, we could see Real Madrid sell Rodrygo which frees up a space on the right which could be occupied by Arda Guler.
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