Kylian Mbappé may well end the season with the Pichichi Trophy for La Liga’s top scorer, making it two in a row since he moved to Spain in the summer of 2024.
No player since the great Mario Kempes in the late ‘70s has claimed back-to-back top scorer awards in his first two seasons in the league. Mbappé is also the current leading scorer in this season’s Champions League with 15—the highest tally ever by a player not named Cristiano Ronaldo.
In exactly 100 games as a Real Madrid player, Mbappé has 85 goals. Looking at the numbers alone, it is, objectively, a stunning return.
And yet, there are very few who would classify Mbappé’s time at Madrid so far as anything other than a failure.
Mbappe at Madrid Just Isn’t Working
The player with the biggest salary in European football has not won a major trophy in his two years at the Bernabéu. On the pitch, he has failed to click with the club’s other major stars, Vinícius Jr and Jude Bellingham, often limiting their impact. Off the pitch, he has occasionally been at the center of controversy, as Real Madrid lurch into crisis amid increasingly sensational reports of a bitterly divided locker room.
The 27-year-old stayed home for Sunday’s humiliating Clásico defeat that confirmed Barcelona’s title, after the reoccurrence of a hamstring issue. His Instagram activity during the game incensed some fans already at their wit’s end with the forward, following reports of training ground disharmony, perceived attitude issues and an ill-advised vacation to Italy.
An Mbappé summer sale appears highly unlikely—despite a fan-led petition to see the superstar turfed out garnering nearly 70 million online signatories—and the world’s biggest club and player will continue their rocky marriage into a third year.
Mbappé’s arrival in 2024 was supposed to take then-European champions Madrid to another level. Instead the club is in a doom spiral. How do they fix this?
New Manager Must Be Able to Take Control
Álvaro Arbeloa is little more than a lame duck manager at this point and, in all likelihood, has just three games left as Real Madrid manager before being moved on.
The former right back was brought in to steady the ship after Xabi Alonso’s short and turbulent reign, but has been unable to stop things getting further out of control.
Excessive player power and attitude issues have been a running theme this season, with Alonso supposedly describing the team as “impossible to coach” after he left in January. Whoever the new boss is, his biggest challenges will be unifying the locker room and restoring discipline.
There is a lot of deadwood to be turfed out from the roster in the transfer window, while it needs to be made clear that no-one is untouchable—including Mbappé.
As the club’s highest-paid player, Mbappé’s attitude means something. He simply cannot be pictured in fits of giggles leaving training after his teammates have been fighting, or have bust-ups with coaches etc., etc., etc.
Curbing the worst excesses of Mbappé’s player power will require not only a strong manager, but support from the increasingly out-of-touch Florentino Pérez and the club’s muddled hierarchy.
Build the Team Around Mbappé
If Mbappe isn’t leaving—and the sheer logistics of such a big-money move make the idea beyond unlikely in the short-term—Madrid’s best option is to lean in and actually build the team around their goalscoring megastar. The challenge is finding a manager who can do that.
José Mourinho is increasingly being linked with a return to the Bernabéu, 13 years on from his acrimonious departure. The 63-year-old Portuguese offers Madrid both the nostalgia that they crave and the idea of a disciplinarian. Mbappé, too, has seemingly given his approval for Mourinho’s second coming.
However, if there is one manager who provably knows how to build around Mbappé, it is France national team head coach Didier Deschamps.
The 57-year-old will leave his role with Les Bleus this summer and is reportedly one of the names of Florentino Pérez’s shortlist. Under Deschamps, France won the World Cup 2018 and reached the final again in 2022, with Mbappé scoring five times across the two finals.
Deschamps’s pragmatic approach has few fans in France despite his success, but he should be praised for his ability to build functional teams from a collection of superstars. He has also largely avoided the soap opera at international level that has plagued Mbappé’s club career.
Can Madrid Handle Both Mbappé and Vinícius Jr?
If Madrid are to stick with Mbappé, it brings the question of Vinícius Jr’s future back to the fore.
The 25-year-old famously shouted that he was leaving the club as he stormed off down the tunnel during October’s Clásico, having been subbed by Xabi Alonso, but has since backtracked and insisted he wants to sign a new contract.
Vinícius and Mbappé have failed to gel in their two seasons together, with Mbappé’s presence cramping the Brazilian’s style out on the left. Ultimately, the Bernabéu might not be big enough for the both of them and, if Mbappé can’t be sold, Vinícius Jr might have to be.
With his contract due to expire in the summer of 2027, this summer represents the last opportunity for Madrid to bank serious money for the Best FIFA Men’s Player 2024. It would be a painful parting of the ways, but Madrid set this course in motion two years ago with Mbappé’s arrival.
Removing Vinícius from the equation would also allow Mbappé to move into his most effective role out wide. The onus would then be on the club to recruit a more traditional No. 9, as well as the much-needed central midfield controller to restore balance to the lineup.
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