If widespread reports are to be believed, Kylian Mbappé will swap Monaco for Paris Saint-Germain before the summer transfer window closes. The 18-year-old attacker’s mooted €155m price tag will make him the second-most expensive player in history, behind only soon-to-be team-mate Neymar.
The deal, along with PSG’s anticipated acquisition of Mbappe’s Monaco colleague Fabinho, will take the Parisians’ already eye-watering summer spend to stratospheric levels, totalling somewhere in the region of €450m.
It’s not as though Unai Emery’s side were short of attacking options to begin with, either. Before Neymar’s €222m arrival from Barcelona, the likes of Ángel Di María, Julian Draxler, Edinson Cavani and Lucas Moura already called the French capital home, not to mention up-and-coming youngsters Gonçalo Guedes and Giovani Lo Celso.
The Spanish coach, of course, had no trouble making room for Neymar in his star-studded line-up, slotting the Brazilian superstar into the left-wing berth in his customary 4-3-3 shape, with Draxler the man to make way. But Mbappé’s anticipated addition poses an altogether more complex tactical conundrum for Emery.
The four-cap France international made his first-team breakthrough at the Stade Louis II last season with a string of impressive cameo appearances on the left flank of Leonardo Jardim’s 4-4-2 system, before quickly establishing himself as an undroppable partner for Radamel Falcao in the front two.
As things stand at PSG, the left wing and centre-forward positions are already occupied - and by two of the team’s most important players at that. As discussed, Neymar has nailed down his position on the left of the attack, enjoying the freedom to come inside onto his stronger right foot, while Cavani, who hit 49 goals in all competitions last term, is the immovable object in the striker’s role.
This would mean the path of least resistance to a regular starting spot for Mbappé at the Parc des Princes is for him to assume Di María’s position on the right flank. The Argentinian winger is, after all, being linked with a move away, amid interest from Barcelona and Inter.
Although it was not his go-to role with Monaco last season, Mbappé does have some experience on the right side of the attack, having featured in the position for France at youth level, most notably during last summer’s European Under-19 Championship triumph. And he has some redeeming qualities in the role, too: searing pace, dependable delivery, one-on-one trickery and a mature understanding of how to time runs into the half-space.
In the above image, we see Mbappé breaking forward for Monaco from the right side, adjusting his stride perfectly to meet Thomas Lemar’s deliciously chipped pass.
Without needing to take a touch to bring the ball under control, the teenager cushions an inviting cross into Falcao's path, which the experienced former Manchester United and Chelsea loanee duly dispatches.
But by playing Mbappé as an orthodox right winger, Emery would be losing more than he would gain. In order to fully maximise the Real Madrid and Manchester City’s target’s vast gifts, a tactical switch will be in order.
Emery needs to find a way to allow Neymar to start in his favoured position, while also creating the opportunity for Mbappé to play alongside Cavani in what has the potential to be a terrifyingly prolific strike duo.
Mbappé scored 26 goals in all competitions last season, despite not really becoming a regular starter until a third of the campaign had already passed. His Ligue 1 return of 15 goals and eight assists meant he was directly involved in a goal every 65.26 minutes – a truly staggering rate of production. His best work was done as a striker in a front two, playing off a conventional No.9 and with license to trust his instincts in finding space and wreaking havoc.
Here, we see how Mbappé’s combination of pace, timing and coolness in front of goal can be devastating. Anticipating the rhythm of his team-mate and discerning his intentions with clarity, the young attacker breaks forward at the optimum moment to latch onto a through-ball.
Too fast to be caught, Mbappé races through on goal. His body shape suggests he will curl the ball into the far corner (red arrow), but instead he swerves past the onrushing goalkeeper whose feet were planted in anticipation of a shot.
From then on, the rest is elementary, as he calmly rolls the ball into the vacant net from close range. The opportunity to act so directly, to shred the opposition apart at the flick of a switch, would be less available if Mbappé was stationed out wide.
Likewise, it's important that, from his central starting point, he's afforded the freedom to pull wide and pick up pockets of space, just as Thierry Henry, another one-time Monaco prodigy, was an expert at doing in his Arsenal pomp.
Above, in last season’s Champions League semi-final against Juventus, we see how Mbappé’s ability to slide into the left channel allows him to then burst back inside unchecked, meeting Fabinho’s slide-rule pass.
He then executes his favoured form of finish: opening up his shoulders and sending an arced strike across the goalkeeper and into the far corner – another technique that would not be readily available to him, as a right-footer, from the right flank.
Any form of 4-4-2 formation would require Neymar to take up too deep of a starting position, burdening the club’s record investment with defensive tasks when it's his attacking, creative talents for which they've paid such a premium.
A 4-2-2-2 shape is a viable option for Emery, but sacrificing a central midfielder is a risk and would potentially stifle another of PSG’s foremost stars, Marco Verratti. The best compromise, it seems, is to utilise a 4-3-1-2 system akin to that which Real Madrid adopted late last season. This would allow Neymar to act as the No.10, starting in the central zone he enjoys drifting into, with the option of then moving laterally across the frontline.
With Mbappé as a mobile second striker and Cavani the sturdy reference point at the tip of the attack, PSG would boast a fearsome and well-rounded offensive trio which would make them a shoo-in for the Ligue 1 title and genuine contenders in the Champions League.
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