Real Madrid superstar striker Kylian Mbappe is having an insane 2026 World Cup, picking up right where he left off in 2022 when he nearly dragged a disappointing France to a second straight trophy. Mbappe was coming off a difficult final few months of the 2025/26 for Los Blancos, but now the most potent and confident version of the No. 9 is back, thanks to Les Bleus.
The former PSG star's status as the main man in Madrid is fully safe, as Jose Mourinho 100 percent intends on building this attack around both Vinicius Junior and Mbappe, with Florentino Perez actually more focused on adding rather than substracting to the attack with designs on dream signing Michael Olise - Mbappe's good friend on the Spanish national team.
But there is still one more possible signing for Real Madrid to make up front, and that would be an experienced backup striker. Names in and out of La Liga have been mentioned like Ante Budimir and Vedat Muriqi, who was Mbappe's biggest Pichichi competition in 2025/26, and while Gonzalo Garcia is now the most logical option to be the No. 2 to Mbappe, the World Cup has reminded everyone of an unexpected name.
Real Madrid have a real La Liga option to consider
Real Sociedad's left footed gem Mikel Oyarzabal has long been one of the best forwards in La Liga, and while a terrible knee injury seemed to derail his career, Oyarzabal has rebuilt himself into a more efficient scoring machine, gaining what he lost in acceleration in intelligence.
Oyarzabal has been overshadowed by the goals of Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe, and Vinicius Junior and then the star power of Pedri and Lamine Yamal in his own country, but he has been one of the best players in the tournament and the real star of Spain this year.
The 29 year old, after quietly scoring an excellent 15 goals on an otherwise disappointing La Real side last season, has found the back of the net four times in four games for Spain. And people seem to forget how insane he was in the qualification period of the World Cup, too, with six goals and four assists in six starts.
Mikel Oyarzaba is world class. He has been a top player in Spain for years but never got the spotlight because he plays for the lesser known of the two Basque powerhouses. But Real Madrid fans know very well who he is, and with how well he is playing for Spain, the clutch southpaw is stating a serious case for being in consideration as an alternative option at striker. He is a menace.
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