Real Madrid’s struggles to sign a number nine this summer have been well-docmented with only Joselu Mato arriving at the club so far, but Carlo Ancelotti is plotting a solution.
At the time of writing, it is all quiet on the centre-forward front, and certainly the Italian appears to be planning for the eventuality that no forward arrives. Instead he will use Jude Bellingham as a false nine.
At least that is the way it is posited by Sport, who are the latest outlet to report that Real Madrid are considering a formation involving no natural number nine, but Rodrygo Goes and Vinicius Junior as two wide forwards with freedom to move inside. Bellingham would then operate at the tip of a diamond in midfield, with plenty of freedom to get into the box too. They point out that Bellingham recorded 12 goals and 16 assists last season as a mark of his prowess in the final third.
Certainly it is an interesting idea, and if they could pull it off successfully, it would be a way of including as many of their best players as possible. If that were the case then, it would also free up Vinicius, Rodrygo and Bellingham to exploit their offensive talents with plenty of cover behind them.
On the flipside, none of these players have shown the best version of themselves without a number nine as a reference point. Even when he was below his usual level, Benzema’s presence greatly improved Rodrygo and Vinicius last season, whereas sometimes Los Blancos looked a little directionless with Rodrygo as a false nine.
