Kylian Mbappé must learn to play as a central forward at Real Madrid because he will not be able to displace Vinicius Junior on the left, says former Club forward Karim Benzema.
French star Mbappé, who joined Real after his contract with Paris St-Germain ended in July, has eight goals in 14 appearances for his new club but has scored just one in his last five games.
The 25-year-old’s favorite position is the left wing, but coach Carlo Ancelotti has kept Brazil international Vinicius in that position, forcing Mbappé to play center back.
“The problem, in my opinion, is that [Mbappe] “He is not a central forward, not even in the national team, every time he plays as a nine he does not feel good, because that is not his position,” former French forward Benzema said on the Spanish television program El Chiringuito., external
“On the left he has a boy who is at the same level as him, Vinicius, so there is a problem, you can’t play with Vinicius as the number nine or on the right, because when he plays on the left he makes the difference in every game.
“Mbappé is not a true number nine. People ask a lot of him and he is under a lot of pressure, this is not Paris St-Germain.”
Benzema is Real Madrid’s second-highest scorer of all time, behind Cristiano Ronaldo, and the Frenchman won the Ballon d’Or while at the club in 2022 before joining Saudi Arabian side Al-Ittihad last year.
The 36-year-old coach, winner of five Champions Leagues and four Leagues during 14 seasons at the Bernabéu, warned Mbappé that “if you go two or three games without scoring you are going to have a lot of problems.” .
Aside from scoring just once in his last five games, Mbappe failed to make an impact as Real’s 42-match unbeaten run in La Liga ended with a painful 4-0 home defeat to rivals Barcelona.
His teammate Vinicius came second behind Manchester City midfielder Rodri in voting for the men’s Ballon d’Or last month, awarded to the best footballer of the year.
Regarding his advice to Real’s current nine, Benzema said: “Don’t give up, because I don’t think he’s going to pressure Vinicius to move. He’s the best player in the world at the moment.”
“Mbappé needs to get it into his head that today he is number nine and forget about the left flank for a while.”
