This is pure speculation. I have no good reason to believe this.
Xabi did not play this way in the CWC.
OK there was one game where he used 3 men up front instead of his usual 2. But that game crucially had fede play rb.
To clarify, what xabi will do noone knows. My initial assumption was he would adapt to Madrid and the teams squad depth and be the club man as Carlo was. Shockingly (to me at the very least) he has been strong willed.
In the CWC we saw several experimental shapesbin different situations. A back 3 when the opposition pressed with 2 forwards at, a back 2 when they used 1. Even a back 3 with 1 presser at times. So it's unclear what his plan is exactly, or if there is 1 grand plan at all.
But it appears more and more likely that it will be a back 3 with Tchoumeni having a situational role.
Now why do I introduce a front 3 as an option?
The reason, simply put, is TAA. Madrid build from the left, long have, even as our personnel has evolved oue left bias has remained. From the days of kroos, ronaldo, benzema, Marcelo and Ramos to now part of it is the fact that players like vini and other overlappers in this incredible transitioned team picked up automatons of the past team.
Now at present Trent is the most clinical player in the squad with his distribution, whether that ve crosses from out wide or throughballs and passes from the half spaces.
So why have would you want to have him stuck and isolated on the right hand side when the team has possession, his ideal position in these situations would be in the kroos area ofc, but that is impracrical for a right back, but what is practical is inverting into one of the midfield zones. This allows him more touches on the ball, puts him closer to the action and allows a better passing range for him to exploit. It also means he doesn't have to dribble past defenders and doesn't need to be involved in 1v1s.
But what does the team lose? A man out wide, a player to provide width to the team. Now to accommodate for that you play a winger instead of forcing a midfielder to move wide. Luckily Rodrygo is right footed, has the ability to take his man 1v1 and can link up with the team from this position.
Ofcourse this also implies he doesn't leave this window and I never saw that happening anyways.
Ofcourse we could just see the same 3-5-2 setup with brahim (my pick), camavinga or even rodrygo directly replacing Jude. But that would leave the midfield in a very weak spot. None of these players can provide everything that Jude did. Especially with guler in midfield, 2 players with little defensive physicality would be suicidal.
Some of these have more than one clubs linked and options, just think most of them will atleast make a move if not the one I'm mentioning.