Vinicius Jr’s grip on Real Madrid’s left wing has never looked more precarious, and Kylian Mbappé has stepped forward publicly with a message of support for his team-mate.
Speaking to Spanish daily AS, the France forward refused to frame Vinicius, Jude Bellingham and 19-year-old newcomer Yan Diomande as rivals for the same shirt, while making no secret of his own ambition to end the season with football’s biggest individual prize.
The remarks land in an unforgiving stretch for Vinicius. He has managed one goal in 598 minutes this season, has been withdrawn before the final whistle in three consecutive matches, and was hauled off in the 68th minute of the recent win at Elche. In that same fixture, Diomande was deployed on Vinicius’s own left flank and produced the standout attacking cameo of the night, while academy forward Espí scored a stoppage-time winner from a Mbappé assist.
Mbappé, whose eight goals in seven appearances have made him virtually undroppable in the starting eleven, offered a diplomatic reading of Real Madrid’s overlapping attacking profiles.
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“They are very different. On the pitch they do completely different things. There are aspects of the game where I am better with Jude, and others with Vini or Güler or Brahim or Diomande or Espí,” he told AS.
Diomande gets the seal of approval
The Ivorian’s arrival has done more to unsettle Vinicius than Mbappé’s own. Mbappé told AS that Diomande’s quality had been obvious from his first day at Valdebebas, describing him as a 19-year-old whose talent was unmistakable no matter what people said about the price tag. He reserved a specific prediction for Espí, forecasting that the youngster would score plenty of goals this campaign.
Ballon d’Or ambitions
Mbappé was blunter about the Ballon d’Or.
“The most important thing for me is that the Ballon d’Or returns to Real Madrid,” he told Yahoo Sports.
He had warm words for Lamine Yamal, one of the shortest odds for this year’s prize, describing the Barcelona forward as a hugely talented player he wished all the best.
Mourinho leaves his mark
Working under José Mourinho, appointed head coach on a three-year contract on 11 June 2026, has clearly left an impression on Mbappé. He told AS the Portuguese was one of the most intelligent people he had ever met, a leader, and an exceptional daily presence whose reputation only grew from close range.
Mourinho has publicly backed his out-of-form Brazilian through the storm. After the Elche game, he attributed the early substitution to fatigue and defensive workload, insisting Vinicius had done a very good job with the team’s shape before running out of legs.
The Ballon d’Or ceremony is set for 26 October at the London Palladium, with Mbappé, Vinicius and Bellingham all on the men’s 30-man shortlist.
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