Luis Enrique sprung tactical surprises in PSG’s win over Nice by shifting Nuno Mendes to left wing, playing centre-back Lucas Beraldo in midfield and moving Kvicha Kvaratskhelia up front. The changes helped PSG to a 4-0 victory, Mendes impressing in a new role as Nice struggled to cope with positional fluidity. When asked if he would use more “unexpected solutions,” Luis Enrique replied: “Of course. It’s my dream. My dream is to have 20 players who can play everywhere. Nuno Mendes as a full-back, Nuno Mendes as a winger, Nuno Mendes as a No 9, Nuno Mendes as a midfielder. Everyone except the goalkeeper, that would be my dream. You can imagine the opposition manager when he sees the line-up saying, ‘But he plays everywhere…!’ It’s a dream. I know it will be difficult to achieve but I’ll try.”
PSG’s two-legged dismantling of Liverpool in the Champions League quarter-finals illustrated the same idea even when players returned to nominal positions. Defenders stepped into midfield, midfielders shifted flanks and the front three rotated; Ousmane Dembélé, nominally a No 9, popped up across the front line to create and exploit space. PSG’s touch maps underline the unpredictability that makes them hard to contain.
Vincent Kompany’s Bayern Munich show similar principles. Sporting director Max Eberl explained: “Harry Kane doesn’t just stand in the box and wait. Michael Olise and Luis Diaz don’t just play on the wing, one-against-one. Joshua Kimmich switches between right-back and defensive midfield. I think that football today is more about creativity. How do I want to play? What do I need to react to? How is the opponent set up? And where are the spaces that I need to exploit? It’s no longer the classic, rigid 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2 formation.” He added his belief that specialists who can only do one thing will become rarer as the game grows more dynamic.
Konrad Laimer exemplifies Bayern’s flexibility. Signed as a midfielder from RB Leipzig, Laimer has excelled at both right and left-back, and his capacity to perform different roles—having started as a No 10 and played as a No 8—has made him invaluable. “Konny is perfectly suited to that,” Eberl said.
Versatility is evident across elite clubs. Liverpool’s Dominik Szoboszlai can play across midfield, at right-back or as part of the front line. Manchester City’s new signing Nico O’Reilly offers midfield and full-back options. Arsenal’s Declan Rice is comfortable at No 6 or No 8 and can fill in at centre-back; Kai Havertz has been used in midfield, up front and even as a marauding left-back for Germany. Real Madrid’s Federico Valverde is perhaps the benchmark—able to operate anywhere in midfield or up and down the right flank—earning praise from teammates and coaches after a standout hat-trick against Manchester City.
Javier Zanetti, the Inter and Argentina legend, is a classic example of adaptability. A primary right-back, Zanetti also played left-back, as a holding midfielder and in central defence, covering all four roles during Inter’s Champions League triumph under Jose Mourinho in 2009/10. “It’s very important because it allows you to play wherever your team needs you most,” Zanetti told Sky Sports. “It allows you to have the trust of your team-mates and your manager, and to know that they think you’re capable of covering certain positions. I think players today should have that versatility.” He stressed that adaptability was learned: focused study, absorbing coaching instructions and applying oneself to different roles.
Practical reasons support the trend. An intense calendar and frequent injuries increase the value of players who can cover multiple positions. Financially, versatility can reduce the need to sign multiple specialists: “If you have one player who can play in three positions, you don’t need to bring in three players for each position,” former Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez observed.
Youth development programmes are increasingly deliberate about creating adaptable players. Dan Micciche, a youth development expert who has worked with Everton, Arsenal, Spurs and England and now serves as academy manager at Al-Ahli, describes session designs and tactical constraints that force players into different positions. “Exposing players to different positions is more about the outcomes they will get from it,” he said, citing tailored individual development plans and examples where midfielders were deployed as centre-backs to train aerial ability. He recommends a playing style that prioritises shape over fixed positions and a “volleyball-style” movement where players circulate through different roles, though he notes many coaches avoid this because it can affect short-term match results.
Versatility also aids longevity. Harry Kane has adapted into a deeper playmaking role as he ages, dropping into midfield before arriving late in the box. Cristiano Ronaldo transitioned from a wide player to an out-and-out striker, prolonging his goalscoring career into his late 30s and beyond. Zanetti credited adaptability with helping him play at a high level into his 40s.
Not everyone believes that tactical fluidity defines the game’s future; some see trends toward directness and set-piece emphasis as a backward step. Yet clubs continue to invest in developing homegrown players who can perform multiple roles, and managers like Luis Enrique openly aspire to squads where many players can be deployed in varied positions.
As PSG and Bayern demonstrate heading into their Champions League semi-final, versatility is increasingly a tactical and practical asset—helping teams respond to different opponents, cover injuries and extract more value from their squads. Follow the Champions League semi-final first leg between Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich live in Sky Sports’ coverage; kick-off 8pm.