The epic move of Kylian Mbappé to Real Madrid, which was ultimately completed on Sunday, was a slow-moving tale of ambition, money, politics, and power.
Years ago, it all started with wooing and flirting. It was extended by the riches of Qatar and presidential action. But it was rekindled by a fiery letter from 2023. And all through 2024, a series of increasingly credible rumors and stories built up to a crescendo that made what was going to happen inevitable. After making the choice to leave Paris Saint-Germain, Mbappé informed the team, worked out a deal with Real Madrid, and then made his departure official. He had already planned his move to a new home in Spain.
The fact that he was moving to Madrid turned into the worst-kept secret in sports history, casting a shadow over both him and two whole nations. But for now, it’s like a match made in football paradise. It’s the unusual union of a superclub and a celebrity.
It’s also a childhood dream come true, with contracts now formally signed and formal announcements to come soon.
Let’s go, Kylian Mbappé to Real Madrid! Each paperwork has been finished, sealed, and signed. After winning the Champions League, Real Madrid is expected to announce Mbappé’s signing the following week.
This was the only logical conclusion for the story, especially after Mbappé turned down Real Madrid in 2022. He never really thought about or bargained with any other club this time. Considering that only one person could equal and magnify his goal.
Naturally, Madrid was also the club that had posters on the walls of his boyhood home. That’s the romantic explanation, and it will undoubtedly be embellished to deflect attention from the more pessimistic assessment, which is that this is a sort of competitive cover-up. Mbappé spent seven seasons with PSG without winning the Champions League. Nobody seems to be surprised that he’s joining the team that wins everything, a la Kevin Durant and the Golden State Warriors.
However, there’s a more practical and logical side to this narrative. It fits well. The only team that could truly accommodate Mbappé’s skill and notoriety was Real Madrid, both strategically and culturally as well as monetarily.
His departure will evoke similarities to both his former all-star squad and the Lionel Messi-Neymar-Mbappé trinity that typified PSG in 2021–2023. Naturally, their mistakes will raise the thought-provoking question, “Are we certain Mbappé at Madrid will work?”
However, Mbappé, Vinicius Junior, and Jude Bellingham—possibly the three greatest players in the world right now his new offensive trident will appear very different.
A squad must center themselves on the ball-dominant talents that are Messi and Neymar. Neither comes to the defense. Messi does not run much. Both are excellent as a single focal point, but the team’s cohesion and balance suffered in Paris when there were several focal points. It won’t in Madrid since Bellingham, Vini, and Mbappé are all adaptable.
PSG had to assemble a squad around certain individuals, but Madrid will welcome Mbappé into a pre-assembled one.
The team’s organizational structure won’t really need to alter. This season, Madrid defeated Spain and Europe with a fairly unusual 4-3-1-2 formation, with Bellingham trailing Vini and Rodrygo as fluid strikers who moved from sideline to center. At worst, Mbappé will just take over Rodrygo’s role, which he appears to be well suited for, and increase the team’s domination.
At best, he will provide additional alternatives and vitality to Madrid’s astute boss, Carlo Ancelotti. Mbappé is capable of playing out wide, in the middle of a front two, or at the center of a three. He may operate as a traditional striker in a 4-3-3, with Bellingham deeper and Vini on the left and Rodrygo on the right. Alternatively, he could fit into the 4-3-1-2 and provide more of a direct offensive push, speed, goals, and just about everything else.
Following a 2-0 Champions League final victory against Borussia Dortmund on Saturday, Bellingham stated that the clinical number nine is “the only little thing that maybe missing.”
Bellingham stated of Mbappé, “We’d be in a really, really great place if he were to come and give us that.” He would elevate us to a new plane.
Nor should his entrance cause any disturbances in the Real Madrid team’s changing room. Reports state that players have responded to the Mbappé announcement with excitement rather than doubt or anxiety. Furthermore, Mbappé is not your usual megastar—by all accounts, he is affable and modest. He should blend in well with Vini and Bellingham, as well as his fellow Frenchmen Eduardo Camavinga and Aurélien Tchouaméni.
His pay will enable him to accomplish it. Apparently, it’s not the enormous amount that he was offered by Real Madrid and PSG two summers prior. His yearly salary of around $16 million will be more commensurate with that of Vini and Bellingham. In addition to keeping some image rights, he will allegedly get a substantial signing bonus of well over $100 million. In a way, though, the contract’s structure will make him fit in.
Furthermore, no one is larger than Real Madrid, even though Messi and Neymar were bigger than PSG. Mbappé will join a team with established procedures and infrastructure that is used to handling and assisting players of his caliber. He will increase the bar for the team’s soccer performance, but it’s possible that the club will boost his profile more than theirs. And wealth will continue to grow.