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