Real Madrid have finally brought the transfer saga of Kylian Mbappe to an end, announcing a five-year deal for the Frenchman on Monday evening. The 25-year-old finally joins Los Blancos, over a decade after their first attempts to sign him.
It has looked a done deal since February, when Paris Saint-Germain communicated to the media that Mbappe would be leaving at the end of the season. However Carlo Ancelotti was told that Real Madrid would be signing Mbappe this summer on the first of June 2023. The Italian had sat down to plan this season with President Florentino Perez and General Manager Jose Angel Sanchez.
There they confirmed the exits, consisting of Eden Hazard, Marco Asensio, Jesus Vallejo and Alvaro Odriozola, as well as the arrivals, which were Jude Bellingham, Brahim Diaz, Fran Garcia and Endrick Felipe, and the contract renewals of Toni Kroos and Luka Modric.
At that stage there was no certainty over Karim Benzema’s future, but the Frenchman was considering an exit to Saudi Arabia, and Joselu Mato’s signing was in the works. Ancelotti was keen to sign Harry Kane from Tottenham Hotspur at the time, but accepted the lack of star replacement after he was told that Mbappe would be arriving this summer, say Relevo.
Perez explained that their finances were focused on Mbappe, and spending €100m plus Kane’s salary on a 30-year-old did not fit in with their plans. Yet already then, Perez spoke with a confidence that clearly was not based on simple ambition, but rather more than that.
Mbappe’s arrival sees arguably the best player in the world join Los Blancos, and for free, albeit with a major signing bonus no doubt. It completes Los Blancos’ coming full circle from losing Cristiano Ronaldo six years ago, to signing the best forward in the world again, which is wht the Portuguese was seen as when he arrived, when for many it looked like they would struggle to compete just a couple of years ago.