Carlo Ancelotti has said that the possible signing of Kylian Mbappe isn’t a topic of discussion in the Real Madrid dressing room and said his “squad full of stars” can compete for trophies without any further additions.
Mbappe has been a long-term Madrid target but Paris Saint-Germain have stood firm in saying the France international will not leave, despite his failure to renew a contract that has entered its final year.
Madrid — who play Levante in LaLiga on Sunday — have so far only added David Alaba on a free transfer this summer, while raising funds after Raphael Varane joined Manchester United and Martin Odegaard moved to Arsenal.
When asked if the arrival of Mbappe was a realistic possibility, Ancelotti told a news conference: “I don’t know. It really doesn’t matter to me what’s going to happen in the next ten days [before the transfer window closes] because I have a really good, strong squad. I’m excited and happy about coaching them, I’m focused on that.
“Evidently, in the dressing room you don’t talk about the transfer market,” he added. “You only talk about the games we’re going to play. Collectively we think about preparing for the games and creating a good atmosphere in the dressing room. Right now, we have that.”
Under previous coach Zinedine Zidane, Madrid finished second in LaLiga last season, two points behind champions Atletico Madrid, and were knocked out in the Champions League semifinals by eventual winners Chelsea.
“This squad, as it is, can compete for everything,” Ancelotti added. “We have really big stars here, I won’t name them all, but there are a lot of top players: [Thibaut] Courtois, [Dani] Carvajal, Nacho, Alaba, I’ll forget some for sure, Karim [Benzema], [Gareth] Bale, [Eden] Hazard.
“This squad is full of stars. Those stars have to work together… A star on its own is just a star. A star who’s capable of working for others is a star that wins trophies.”
Ancelotti was also forced to rule out a Madrid return for Cristiano Ronaldo earlier this week, after reports in Spain that the pair had spoken about a move.
“The subject is finished,” Ancelotti said. “After the rumours, I wanted to clarify that the idea of the club for the future is the same one that I have. We look forward. Having said that, everyone at Real Madrid has affection for Cristiano, me more than most because he helped me win a lot of trophies.”
Ancelotti added that midfielder Luka Modric — who will miss the Levante game with a groin problem — could return for next weekend’s match at Real Betis, while Toni Kroos is expected back from injury after the international break.
In the meantime, he said that he would experiment with winger Marco Asensio in an unfamiliar midfield role.
