Kylian Mbappe was officially announced as Real Madrid’s latest signing by the club’s infamous 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘰 𝘰𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 earlier this evening. It has been a long time coming, and the Mbappe transfer saga has finally concluded. It’s been in the works since the 2012-13 season when the Frenchman had a trial at Madrid and met his idol, Cristiano Ronaldo. But now that the deal is done, speculation will end about his next club and begin with the performances.
The talking point will be about how Mbappe fits into this team and which position Carlo Ancelotti will deploy him in. I have written more on this in an article about Kylian Mbappe’s best position, which can be found here. But the whole saga of Kylian Mbappe to Real Madrid needs re-telling, and how the capital’s club triumph in La Liga and UEFA Champions League this season changes the dynamics of Mbappe joining the club. Mbappe might be arguably the best player in the world, but this Madrid team is very much Vinicius Jr’s.
As aforementioned, reports linked Mbappe with Madrid for years, and throughout this time, Paris St. Germain adamantly insisted that their talisman would not leave for free. However, PSG seem to have forgotten who they were dealing with in Florentino Perez. The smartest and perhaps the most shrewd president in club football. Perez has orchestrated some of the best transfers in world football. He was on board to sell Cristiano Ronaldo, the best player in the club’s history, on the back of three consecutive European triumphs. Despite intense criticism, he saw the forest for the trees with that move. Many moons before that, he won the presidential elections by promising to sign Luis Figo from their eternal rivals FC Barcelona, and he delivered.
Ronaldo’s sale in 2018 opened up the door for Mbappe to sign with the club. He’s always idolised Ronaldo, and everyone sees him as the heir apparent to the talisman. However, PSG and their chequebook stood in the way as they paid AS Monaco a fee of €180 million. Real Madrid could not afford that. Instead, they poured the Ronaldo money into two Brazilians, Vinicius Jr. and Rodrygo. The club would never replace Ronaldo but could recreate him (sort of) in aggregate – Benzema became the focal point, and Vinicius and Rodrygo made compelling contributions.
After a shaky first season, success soon followed. It’s been six full seasons since the Portuguese superstar left the club, and the club has won three league titles and two European cups. During that time, Mbappe came close to leaving the club on numerous occasions but stayed put. He was reportedly given more control and paid a whole lot more. However, European success continued to elude Mbappe and PSG, with this season’s shortcomings being the last straw.
Even while signing the extension with PSG, Kylian Mbappe knew he’d end up in Madrid. Hence, the deals were never more than two or three years. However, in hindsight, Mbappe should have sealed the move in 2022. If he had done that, there is a good chance Mbappe would be etched in Madrid’s eminent history like Vinicius has in the last two years.
Is this Kylian Mbappe’s Real Madrid?
The short answer to that question is no. PSG were Kylian Mbappe’s team. This Real Madrid side is not Mbappe’s yet. He is not the main man when next season begins and will have to earn his way to being the undisputed number one at the club. Vinicius Jr. is the honcho at the capital club this season. He was last year, but earlier this season, there were doubts due to Jude Bellingham’s performances. But when the big matches rolled around in the season’s final stretch, Vinicius Jr. proved that he was the man to lead this team.
The performance against Bayern Munich was the classic example. Vinicius took the tie by the scruff off the neck and turned it around. The final against Dortmund was yet another example. No Real Madrid player played exceptionally on the night. But when the moment came, Vinicius Jr. was there to kill the game and kill German hopes (again).
Embed from Getty ImagesMbappe is at a stage where he could walk into any club in the world and be the main man. But not at Real Madrid, and not now. Cristiano Ronaldo came to Madrid when they were at their lowest since the 80s and early 90s. The club was routinely exiting the Champions League in the Round of 16. Mbappe, however, is coming in when the club has won two Champions League in six years and already has a bonafide superstar in Vinicus Jr.
Mbappe needs Madrid more than the 15-time European champions need him. The Frenchman has been starved of Champions League glory and needs European success to truly catapult himself into the conversation of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. To do that, Kylian Mbappe must deliver the goals at a clip his idol did for nine years and follow it up with a collective success, also as his idol. Then and only then would it be Kylian Mbappe’s Real Madrid.