Will Mbappe and Haaland’s arrival create an imbalance in the Real Madrid squad?

Real Madrid are preparing to sign both Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland in the summer of 2022. While this will be great news for fans of the club, it might turn out to be a nightmare for Carlo Ancelotti and the balance of the lineup. 

With Vinicius Jr and Karim Benzema in the form of their lives, these four attackers will be in contention to play every game. So, Madrid might have too many quality options in their squad. This might lead to a problem down the line since one of them might have to miss out. 

Can Real Madrid play with all four attackers?  

Carlo Ancelotti is one of the most successful club managers of the modern era. He has experience of managing such a situation in the past as well. Back when he was the AC Milan manager, he had a squad with Andriy Shevchenko, Filippo Inzaghi and Jon Dahl Tomasson which was joined by Hernan Crespo, Christian Vieri and Ronaldo Nazario.

Even if Ancelotti can deploy all four players, with Vinicius on his favoured left-wing, Mbappe on the right, Haaland playing as a 9 and Benzema behind him, the midfield behind them will be very restricted. 

Currently, Kroos, Casemiro and Modric are the heart and soul of the team. The midfield will have to be sorted out with a balance of defensive physicality and distribution to the front-line. Moreover, the fullbacks will not have the liberty to go forward, and will have to be more defensive. 

Having all four players seems too good to be true for the team. And despite his merits, it is difficult to imagine Ancelotti finding a way to maintain a squad with four elite attackers. Both the new signings will want to play every week if they make it to Real Madrid, and it creates a big problem from selection to balance on the pitch.