GOAL examines Real Madrid’s choice to sign Kylian Mbappé rather than Harry Kane after Karim Benzema’s departure, focusing on the type of attacking role the club needed.
The attacking vacancy after Benzema
Karim Benzema left Real Madrid in the summer of 2023. He was described as one of the most influential playmakers in the team’s attacking system for years, thriving when dropping into midfield to collect the ball, linking the lines and creating space for Vinícius Junior and Rodrygo. Real Madrid needed to replace not only a goalscorer but also a key playmaker in its attacking system.
Britain’s BBC reported on 5 June 2023 that Harry Kane, the England captain, topped Real Madrid’s wishlist and that the club were hugely impressed by his qualities. GOAL reports that Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy demanded more than £100 million for Kane, a figure Real Madrid refused to meet. Kane joined Bayern Munich for an initial fee of 100 million euros plus further bonuses.
Different movement and roles
GOAL states that the key difference between Kane and Mbappé comes down to how they move and the roles they take up on the pitch. It describes Kane as a striker who can lead the line but also drop into midfield to collect the ball, pick out long passes, create chances and drag defenders out of position to open space for midfielders and wingers.
GOAL argues that Kane’s movement and passing would have handed Jude Bellingham more room to burst into the penalty area. It notes that for England, Kane often peels off and drops deep to receive the ball while Bellingham exploits the spaces his movement creates to charge towards goal. Kane also links up with wingers and threads balls into space, similar to what Benzema did alongside Vinícius.
GOAL claims that Kane does not need to dominate every attack to make his mark and does not force his team-mates to overhaul their movement to create space for him.
Goalscoring figures and attacking changes
GOAL reports that Mbappé scored 42 goals in all competitions in his first season with Real Madrid and 42 goals again in his second season. Before Mbappé arrived, Real Madrid scored 127 and 129 goals in all competitions across the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 seasons, a total of 256 goals in 116 matches. In Mbappé’s first two seasons, the team scored 148 goals in 2024-2025 and 119 in 2025-2026, for a total of 267 goals across 124 matches.
GOAL calculates that Real Madrid scored 11 more goals during Mbappé’s first two seasons than in the previous two seasons, but played eight more matches, with their goalscoring average slipping from around 2.21 goals per match to 2.15. In La Liga, Real Madrid scored 162 goals in the two seasons before Mbappé joined, compared with 155 across his first and second seasons. Vinícius dropped from 15 goals in 2023-2024 to 11 the following season, while Bellingham’s tally fell from 19 goals to nine.
GOAL states that injuries, departing players and shifting roles contributed to Real Madrid’s attacking changes after Mbappé’s arrival. It identifies overlapping space between Mbappé and Vinícius and a squeeze on Bellingham’s attacking freedom among the issues the team faced.
Crosses and Kane’s record
GOAL describes crosses as one of Real Madrid’s key attacking weapons in recent years, with Benzema and later Joselu able to punish opponents from aerial balls, including set pieces. Joselu scored 18 goals in 49 matches for Real Madrid during the 2023-2024 season, including five goals in the Champions League.
GOAL characterises Mbappé as weak in the air and says that when he was installed as the main striker, Real Madrid relied more on dribbles, passes into space and runs behind the defence rather than on a reference striker exploiting crosses. It argues that Kane can drift outside the box to link play while maintaining a strong presence inside it, with an advantage in aerial duels and a potential edge in keeping crosses as a live weapon.
GOAL reports that Kane scored 44 goals and provided 12 assists in 45 matches across all competitions in his first season with Bayern Munich, then produced 42 goals and 14 assists in the following campaign. It states that he produced exceptional numbers again in the 2025-2026 season before winning the 2026 Ballon d’Or, finishing ahead of Mbappé in second place.
GOAL describes Kane as combining scoring, passing, link-up play and space creation, and as one of the most complete forwards in modern football.
