Mbappe a better Ronaldo replacement than Perez’s Neymar preference, says McManaman

Real Madrid should replace Cristiano Ronaldo with Kylian Mbappe, rather than Florentino Perez’s favourite Neymar, according to Steve McManaman.

After nine years at the club, Ronaldo left Real Madrid this summer to join Juventus in a deal reportedly worth around £100 million.

That prompted a flurry of transfer rumours as many speculated about who would be brought in to fill the Portuguese international’s boots – Mbappe, Neymar and Eden Hazard were all mentioned.

However, Los Blancos decided to be more conservative in their approach and instead brought Mariano Diaz back to the club from Lyon for around £33 million, even giving the Dominican Republic international Ronaldo’s old number seven shirt.

But that has done nothing to slow down rumours of a big signing arriving at the Bernabeu within the next two transfer windows, and McManaman believes that signing should be French wonderkid, Mbappe – even if president Perez wants Neymar instead.

He told Goal: “If Neymar comes, the situation will be difficult because he previously played for Barca. I know Florentino [Perez] really wanted him.

“But when you need a reliable star figure for the next ten years, I think you have to bring in players like Mbappe. He’s only 19-years-old and seems to be a rising star.

“If I had to choose, I would go with the the future, so I’d say Mbappe [as the ideal replacement for Ronaldo].”

But with Real unable to make anymore singings until January, at least, McManaman is expecting senior attackers such as Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema to step up.

“There will be players like Bale and Benzema, who will have a bigger role than in previous seasons,” he added. “And I think Bale looks to be a leader in the offensive side of things.

“The pressure will be much greater, but that’s the same for Benzema, Marco Asensio, and even Mariano.”

In Ronaldo’s absence, Real Madrid have made a strong start to the La Liga season, winning all three of their games so far – Bale has three goals in those games, while Benzema has four.

Their next game is away to Athletic Bilbao after the international break.

 

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