It would be a mistake to replace Gareth Bale with Kylian Mbappe

Replacing Gareth Bale with Kylian Mbappé this summer would be a mistake. The transfer window this year has once again brought with it more Bale transfer rumors. An endless cycle of stories stating Bale’s inevitable departure has ebbed and flowed throughout his time at Real seemingly since the day he arrived. Despite being an integral part of the success Real have boasted since his arrival, he’s still largely blamed for whenever something seems to go wrong.

Each year the rumours seem to go on for a bit longer then necessary before Real squash them. But its usually not before an uncomfortable time of uncertainty for has passed. Each time, the potential names for who might replace Bale seems to be looked at, and then its decided that Bale is indeed better than all those options for the upcoming season.

Every summer with Bale, Real have obviously made the right decision in keeping him — something that the club should indeed get credit for. Bale has been an integral part of a trio at Real Madrid which has been responsible for winning the Champions League three of the last four years. His role hasn’t been small domestically either, claiming a role in a goal every 89.9 minutes.

This year, the transfer rumours for Bale haven’t been as loud (thank you Neymar). Though once Neymar’s deal was completed, unsurprisingly the noise started back up, with Marca reporting that in order for Real Madrid to get Mbappe (a player that they had reportedly been targeting all summer), they would have to move Gareth Bale.

Those rumours didn’t last long either. A recent report from the Guardian implied that Bale has indeed been confirmed of his role at Real moving forward.

“Real have a firm interest in Mbappé but have informed Bale they are unlikely to attempt to buy the 18-year-old striker in the near future.”

Source: The Guardian

The story also discussed how Real would “not try to buy Monaco’s Kylian Mbappé until next summer”. This seems to be the usual moment where Real realize that there isn’t a good enough replacement for Bale to keep them at the top of the world while Cristiano Ronaldo is still at his peak.

If the transfer window ends and Mbappé isn’t on Real Madrid, then I think they would have made another wise move in keeping the front three the same. I don’t believe in buying Mbappé to keep him from Barcelona. I certainly don’t think buying him for around 140 million Euros at his current state is a smart move either. He wouldn’t be a consistent starter at Real if Bale and Benzema were still around and we certainly don’t want another James Rodriguez situation.

Mbappé coming in for Bale doesn’t make sense for Real Madrid this summer. Mbappé taking the place of Karim Benzema this summer doesn’t make much sense to me either. Sacrificing the ‘now’ for the hope of the future isn’t what Real Madrid do, and if Kylian Mbappé is worth 140 million Euros now and Real are interested, they can certainly buy him when he’s worth 200 million Euros next summer.

By next summer he will be more prepared to lead a front line and come in and challenge Karim Benzema for his spot. Replacing a proven commodity like Gareth Bale with a world class prospect like Kylian Mbappé doesn’t make sense this summer.