Kylian Mbappe sent shockwaves around the Santiago Bernabeu with his behavior after a 2-0 Real Madrid win over Real Oviedo, as he made the great Man of the Match performance by young striker Gonzalo Garcia all about him and his own injured ego.
As the boos reigned down from the Santiago Bernabeu, Mbappe threw his manager under the bus, disrespected his teammates, and spun a story to the media that no true Madridista believed. And now, Mbappe is no longer untouchable to the front office. After his latest tirade dropped the mask, here are three Madrid players who stand to benefit from Mbappe losing influence.
LW Vinicius Junior
The most obvious winner is Vinicius Junior, because while the Brazilian is actually good friends with Kylian Mbappe despite the false flags from the media of dissent between the two, it is true that both men play similar favored roles on the pitch and have not exactly geled together.
VIni Jr.'s best games these past two seasons have come without Mbappe, who rarely looks to pass to the other forwards. Although Vini hurt his stock with his emotional outbursts, they come from a place of wanting to win and he apologizes to the fans for them. Mbappe is cold and calculating with a clear intent to boost his own profile. Real Madrid fans are seeing through the mask and starting to realize they were wrong for turning on Vinicius.
ST Gonzalo Garcia
Gonzalo Garcia started instead of Mbappe with Alvaro Arbeloa wanting to ease the Frenchman back after his self reported injury before Barcelona, and the young Spaniard, who is on the preliminary World Cup squad for Spain by the way, benefited greatly.
Although Garcia is on the transfer list this summer, Real Madrid will be able to buy him back, barring any surprises. And if he keeps this up, Jose Mourinho may be calling on him the same way Xabi Alonso did.
CM Jude Bellingham
Jude Bellingham clearly does not like Kylian Mbappe, and it does not take one of those El Chiringuito body language experts to decipher that. The best player from the 2023/24 season in his first year at the Santiago Bernabeu, Bellingham has fallen in stature since the Frenchman's arrival and has been pitted unfavourably in the media since Mbappe joined.
He has had to play more defensive with less influence on the game. If Mbappe's stock falls, Bellingham's rises the most dramatically, and he could resume his 2023/24 levels without the ex-PSG forward.
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