Kylian Mbappe facing competition from Real Madrid midfielder to inherit iconic no.10 shirt at club next season: Reports

Kylian Mbappe and Arda Guler are both in the running for Real Madrid's iconic No. 10 shirt ahead of the new season, according to MARCA. The number is available following Luka Modric's departure from the Santiago Bernabeu this summer.

The legendary midfielder left Los Blancos at the end of his contract and has since moved to AC Milan. Interestingly, the 39-year-old will wear the No. 14 for the Serie A giants.

Modric joined the LaLiga giants in the summer of 2012 from Tottenham Hotspur and initially wore the No. 19. Following James Rodriguez's departure in 2017, the Croatian midfielder was handed the No. 10 shirt.

Meanwhile, Kylian Mbappe picked up the No. 9 shirt after joining Real Madrid after the expiry of his contract with Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). Interestingly, the French superstar never wore the No. 10 shirt with the Ligue 1 champions, and last donned the No. 7 at the Parc des Princes.

However, the 26-year-old has been wearing the No. 10 for his national team since the 2017/18 season. Kylian Mbappe also wore the No. 10 shirt during his time with AS Monaco.

The Frenchman was previously tipped to picked up that iconic number for Real Madrid after Luka Modric's departure. However, it now appears that Arda Guler is also in the race for the famous shirt.

The Turkish midfielder is highly rated at the Santiago Bernabeu and currently sports the No. 15 for the LaLiga giants. However, Guler briefly wore the No. 10 during his final season with Fenerbahce.

How many goals has Kylian Mbappe scored for Real Madrid?

Kylian Mbappe completed his dream move to Real Madrid last summer and hit the ground running at the Santiago Bernabeu. The French superstar registered the best goalscoring returns by a Los Blancos player in the club's history.

Mbappe scored in his debut for the LaLiga giants in the UEFA Super Cup in August last year, helping them to a 2-0 win over Atalanta. In the process, the 2018 FIFA World Cup winner lifted his first trophy with his new team.

The Frenchman went on to register 44 goals and five assists from 59 games across competitions. He bettered Cristiano Ronaldo's debut season returns and even broke Ivan Zamorano's long-standing debut season record.

The iconic Chilean striker had scored 37 times in his debut for Real Madrid, a record that had stood for 32 years. Mbappe also won the FIFA Intercontinental cup with the Spanish giants.

About the author

Deepungsu is a veteran football journalist who has been covering daily transfer roundups and news for over seven years at Sportskeeda. He has written more than 9000 articles for the website, and has garnered over 20 million reads.

Deepungsu holds a PG degree in Microbiology and an MBA degree in Total Quality Management. He has an extensive two-decade long writing experience, which includes a decade of sports blogging. His writing prowess has even led his work getting cited on the legendary Franz Beckenbauer's Wikipedia page.

Inspired by Diego Maradona, Deepungsu played as an attacking midfielder for his local club at subdivision level in his initial years and scored an important goal or two. However, his all-time favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and evidently, he feels Argentina's glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment for fulfilling his long-standing dream. He is also an ardent East Bengal fan.

Deepungsu has been a Manchester United supporter since the year 2000. Unsurprisingly, his favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson and the Scotsman helped him get through some of the toughest days of his life. Like the fiery Scot, Deepungsu also leaves no stone unturned when it comes to accuracy in articles and only relies on credible sources.

Despite believing in Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland to create an iconic rivalry, Deepungsu reckons no one can match the longevity of Messi and Ronaldo. He spends his leisure time writing about life on his blog, reading books, and playing the guitar.

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Edited by Deepungsu Pandit