Kylian Mbappe’s arrival at Real Madrid would appear to have already be causing a slight issue in the dress-room at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Mbappe arrived in the Spanish capital this summer at long last after a protracted pursuit by Los Blancos dating back several seasons, with the Frenchman finally signing at the end of his PSG deal.
It took him less than 90 minutes to get on the scoresheet for the first time, too, netting in the European Super Cup final against Atalanta last week to pick up his first trophy in the famous white shirt.
While the acquisition of perhaps the best player in the world is never a bad thing, it was never going to be a completely seamless introduction, with Real Madrid already well-stocked in world beaters.
Fitting him into a line up that already included Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Jnr and Rodrygo Goes was going to be the key question for Carlo Ancelotti, and it would appear that Mbappe’s arrival has seen the spotlight leave out one of last season’s Champions League winning triumvirate.
Kylian Mbappe has already won his first piece of silverware since arriving at Real Madrid
Carlo Ancelotti faces a delicate balancing act slotting in the French superstar to his team
Jude Bellingham and Mbappe warm up prior to the disappointing 1-1 draw against Mallorca
The Spanish press have a well-documented love of acronyms as a shorthand for LaLiga’s star attacking trios, for example BBC (Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo) and MSN (Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Neymar Jnr), so it’s no surprise to see BMV already becoming popular.
But the one man left out of that trio (Bellingham, Mbappe and Vinicius) is Rodrygo, and a message reportedly broadcasted on his WhatsApp channel might indicate that that has not sat too well with the Brazilian.
‘Last week, they talked about the trio Bellingham, Mbappe and Vini, but to this acronym we will have to add the R for Rodrygo,’ read the message, believed to have been sent out on Monday.
El Chiringuito however reports that the message was in fact put out by the player’s communications team, rather than Rodrygo himself.
The message is also believed to have been deleted in order to further avoid misinterpretation.
Rodrygo started Sunday’s clash with Mallorca, and got his side’s goal in the 1-1 draw as well, with Ancelotti and Co stymied in their first league game of the campaign.
That starting XI is a strong indication for how the legendary Italian boss will look to set his side up, with Rodrygo and Vinicius Jnr either side of Mbappe.
Bellingham began the game on the left of a midfield three, accompanied by Aurelien Tchouameni and Federico Valverde.
Footage of Bellingham (second left) telling Mbappe (right) and Vinicius Jnr (left) where they went wrong against Mallorca was shared after Real Madrid’s disappointing 1-1 draw
Bellingham moaned that ‘running back was f***ing hard’ during the match against Mallorca
Speaking to his team-mates after the match, Bellingham told the attacking trio they must ‘finish the attack’ by shooting on site rather than losing possession, otherwise he is forced to run back in transition to help the defence.
In the post-match conversation captured by Movistar, the England international said: ‘You three, we need to finish the attack, because the running back… is f***ing hard.’
Agreeing with his new team-mate, Mbappe added: ‘That’s what I’m saying. We have to finish with something.’
Bellingham added: ‘Yeah, even… create a yard and [shoot].’
