Real Madrid would have been better off keeping Joselu for last night's Champions League tie at Liverpool rather than bringing in Kylian Mbappe, Steve McManaman has claimed.
Mbappe may be one of the world's most highly-valued players but he struggled on the left for Real Madrid at Anfield, missing a penalty and otherwise being kept quiet by Conor Bradley. The Champions League champions ended up falling to a 2-0 defeat courtesy of goals from Alexis Mac Allister and Cody Gakpo.
Mbappe, aged 25, has scored nine times in his first 18 appearances since joining from Paris St-Germain in the summer but his new side sit 24th in a revamped Champions League and trail Barcelona in the La Liga standings. Former Stoke City forward Joselu, now 34 and an unexpected key man at Madrid last season, was allowed to leave to make space for his arrival and is now playing for Al Gharafa in Qatar.
McManaman said on TNT Sports: "They needed (Mbappe) tonight. Without (injured) Vinicius Junior, without some of the other stars, he flattered to deceive. (The penalty) was his moment.
"The press will be ruthless about Kylian because he didn't deliver again when needed to. Madrid are going through a rough patch and the big players are not playing well. It just magnifies it. Vinicius isn't here - will Kylian step up tonight? No, he doesn't.
"They've got enough centre-forwards but (manager Carlo Ancelotti) doesn't want to use them at this moment. They needed a centre-forward tonight. Kylian is not a number nine - he might have it on his back but he is not a goalscorer supreme in those positions, is he? He likes to play out wide. They might as well have kept Joselu."
What do you think? Click HERE to have your say
Get breaking Stoke City news sent direct to your phone
Get the latest Potters news and views and big-match action sent straight to your phone by joining our Stoke City WhatsApp community.
It's a free service. Fans who want to join must just have WhatsApp downloaded to their phone. Then all you have to do is click on this link, select 'Join Chat' and you're in.
No one will be able to see your personal information and you will only receive messages from StokeonTrentLive team. We will not spam your WhatsApp feed with constant messages, but you will receive daily updates with the latest Stoke City stories.
If for some reason you decide you no longer want to be in our community, you can leave at any time by clicking on the name at the top of your screen and clicking 'Exit Group'. It's as simple as that. Remember, just click this link to join in.
Join our new Whatsapp community! Click this link to receive daily Stoke City content and breaking news. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read ourPrivacy Notice.