Would Real Madrid have to sell Vinicius Junior to buy Kylian Mbappe?

Real Madrid fans are still dreaming of signing Kylian Mbappe, but an already-difficult “operation” is starting to look nearly impossible in light of Real’s recent question marks and a financial crisis. And if Mbappe starts to tear it up under new manager Mauricio Pochettino, he may have the incentive he needs to stay in Paris.

As it stands right now, there are two avenues for Real to acquire Mbappe. They can try to sign him in 2021 and pay 150 million euros to PSG, or they can wait until 2022 to sign him for free. Of course, even signing Mbappe for free is not, well, free, because he would command the highest wages in the club.

Los Blancos can sit tight until 2022, but Mbappe may not wait for them. If they want to guarantee Mbappe by making an offer in 2021, they would have to find a way to afford both his wages and PSG’s asking price.

According to a report from Tomas Gonzalez-Martin of ABC Deportes (report in Spanish), Real Madrid would have to make two major sales in order to pay for Kylian Mbappe this summer. And Gonzalez-Martin specifically states that one of those players sold would be Vinicius Junior, whom PSG sporting director Leonardo has long been keen on acquiring in exchange.

It might not be worth it for Real Madrid to sell two stars to get Kylian Mbappe

If Real added Mbappe, they would probably have to sacrifice a wide forward. Mbappe, Eden Hazard, Rodrygo Goes, Marco Asensio, and Vinicius would all be first-team options, while Takefusa Kubo and Brahim Diaz are developing loanees. They cannot have Vinicius or Rodrygo stuck on the bench indefinitely, so they would likely have to choose one player to let go if they acquired Mbappe. And Vinicius would probably be the choice, since he is a year older, less versatile, and not as productive.

But many Madridistas wouldn’t want to see Vinicius Junior go. He is a very talented young player who has come up big for the club multiple times in his career. Yes, there are some issues with finishing and consistency, but those are expected. The reality is that Vinicius has all the tools to be a great player at Real Madrid and does not burden the team financially either.

That’s not even getting into the issue of selling a second player to afford Mbappe. Who would that even be? Which star player could Real even afford to part with in order to make such a splashy signing at a time of great economic uncertainty? Wouldn’t it be better to wait for Erling Haaland?

Mbappe is a dream signing, but when money is tight, dreams can quickly turn into catastrophes if the wrong sacrifices are made by the club. Real Madrid must think carefully about how much is too much in the case of Mbappe, or if “sign at all costs” truly does apply.