Barcelona sporting director Deco has claimed that Real Madrid will need to alter their tactical setup in order to successfully fit Kylian Mbappe into the team next season.

Mbappe is on course to leave PSG as a free agent in the summer. And while no official announcement as to his next club has been made, it would shock the entire football world at this stage if it is to be anyone other than Madrid.

Deco has denied there being any chance of Barca being able to land the generational Frenchman. He is in no doubt that Mbappe will improve Madrid, but warned during an interview with Que T’hi Jugues it won’t be a simple process of just slotting him in to the existing system.

“There is no discussion [with Barcelona]. Decisive player, who generates many goals,” Deco said.

“If he comes to Real Madrid, they will be stronger, but they will have to solve some tactical problems. In football, balance is very important.”

Mbappe has spent a considerable chunk of this season operating from PSG’s left flank. He has also led the line as a number nine, but wide forward has long been seen as his best position, having previously been used predominantly on the right before Neymar left Parc des Princes.

Those wide roles don’t currently exist the way Carlo Ancelotti has Madrid playing, utilising a 4-3-1-2 shape that gives Jude Bellingham the freedom to score goals from midfield but lacks natural width by having Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo play more centrally than they have done in the past.

The system changed after Karim Benzema left Madrid for the Saudi Pro League and no like-for-like replacement was signed. The Frenchman had been the only genuine striker in the squad.