4 reasons why Mbappe and not Neymar is the perfect galactico replacement for Ronaldo
Ronaldo was officially unveiled by Juventus on Monday, Real Madrid will therefore be looking at the market to buy replacements for their departing record goalscorer.
A lot of names have been bandied about as potential candidates to fill Ronaldo's shoes with Neymar, Mbappe and Hazard the most recurring ones.
A lot of details go into consideration before signing a galactico at Madrid, including technical ability and market appeal of the player, and Kylian Mbappe definitely ticks all the right boxes for Real Madrid.
These are the the top four factors that make Mbappe the ideal replacement for Ronaldo.
#1 Age factor
Kylian Mbappe was born just five months after France lifted its first ever World Cup and seven months after Real Madrid ended a 32 year wait to lift its 7th European crown.
Neymar turned 26 in February, while Hazard will be 28 in January. Any significant contract offered to any of them would cover the period into their thirties, so Real Madrid will be in a situation of paying huge wages to a 30+ year old player.
As Ronaldo showed, that might not really be a bad situation if the player in question continues to perform at an optimal level, but the question is if any of these players could turn out Ronaldo like performances in their advancing years? And the answer is probably no.
With Mbappe, the situation is different as Real Madrid would be getting a 19 year old player with at least a dozen years of elite level football to be played.
From a business perspective there is also one crucial factor tipping the scale in Mbappe's favor. On account of his young age, he would have a huge resale value if his transfer to the Bernabeu fails to live up to expectations, the same cannot be said about Neymar and Hazard as their advancing ages mean that they wouldn't command a high fee if they were to be resold by Real Madrid.