The full story of Kylian Mbappe’s transfer to Real Madrid

Real Madrid have been trying to sign Kylian Mbappe for years – and now they finally have their man.

The 25-year-old Frenchman’s signing was confirmed on Monday, more than two years after their previous attempt to bring him in.

In May 2022, Mbappe radically refused a transfer to Madrid, making a last-minute decision to renew his contract at Paris Saint-Germain. This time things have gone much more smoothly and there is great excitement among everyone in Madrid at the arrival of one of the best players in the world, especially with the team having just won the 15th Cup of Europe/Champions League of the club and which is already full of young talents. .

But that’s not to say the free agent move was without intrigue — nor was it completely unopposed.

This is the full story of how Madrid finally signed Mbappé.

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The start of 2024 marked the beginning of the end.

In early January, at Madrid’s Valdebebas training complex – where the club’s offices are also located – it was agreed that a final attempt at signing Mbappé would be made.

Several meetings were held on this subject, but some senior Madrid officials were not convinced it was a good idea.

The idea behind this was twofold. Firstly, there were fears that the club’s interests would be harmed again after Mbappé’s rejection two years ago. Others simply thought the time was not right – for both sporting and economic reasons.

Some preferred to be more cautious with the club’s finances – which are in good health, even with the extensive renovation of their Santiago Bernabeu stadium, which will cost at least €1.3 billion (£1.1 billion; 1.4 billion dollars at current prices).

Some believed the positive atmosphere in the dressing room could be affected by Mbappé’s arrival as the highest paid player while the vast majority of his new teammates had won more trophies for the club. Some thought Madrid could do well without him – especially with the arrival of 17-year-old Brazilian Endrick and the team already performing admirably.

In short: we thought that the Madrid project was working very well without Mbappé.

But club president Florentino Perez nevertheless decided that a new attempt would be made, taking into account the above factors. It was also decided that Mbappé would have a deadline to respond to this new proposal, the terms of which would be lower than that of 2022. According to sources close to the previous discussions – like all the sources cited in this article, they preferred to speak anonymously to protect his relationships – Mbappe was offered a six-season contract with a signing bonus of 130 million euros and a salary of 26 million euros per year.

Mbappe took a first step on January 3 when, without consulting PSG, he stopped to speak to journalists after PSG beat Toulouse in the Trophée des Champions – a match between the previous season’s Ligue 1 winners and the Coupe de France, a bit like the Community Shield in England.

“In 2022, I only knew my decision in May,” Mbappé said in response to questions about his future. It’s the start of a new year, he is now in the last six months of his contract and is free to negotiate with him. interested clubs.

“If I know what I want to do, I shouldn’t let the decision drag on. It wouldn’t make any sense. »

For his part, PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi said the club wanted him to stay: “He is the best player in the world, and the best thing for him is PSG. It is at the heart of the project. I ask everyone to leave Kylian in peace.

Mbappé’s comments were interpreted positively in the Spanish capital, where Madrid were already working on the details of their offer. When what they were proposing reached the player’s entourage in the following days, the club made it known that his salary (the offer was slightly higher than what Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham received) and his signing fee would make him their highest paid player.

Perez has been in regular contact with Mbappe during this process, which is unusual for the Madrid club president. Usually, it is his right-hand man, their general director José Angel Sánchez, who leads the negotiations. Mbappe told Perez he was excited about the move. Meanwhile, Madrid have insisted in media briefings that they have no interest in the player. But the reality was quite different: Athleticism reported on numerous occasions.

Sánchez traveled to Paris before Madrid participated in the four-club Spanish Super Cup, which took place in Saudi Arabia from January 10-14. He came back full of optimism – another good sign, as he is usually cautious and very restrained.

By the end of the month, everyone in Madrid believed a deal would be reached. But there has still been no final agreement. Some people close to Mbappé were not as clear as him on the subject.

As reported Athleticism By mid-February, influential members of his entourage were unconvinced by the offer because it was lower than what he was earning at PSG and could gain from another potential suitor.

In interviews with Pérez, the president explained how signing for Madrid would take the player’s profile to another sporting and marketing level, which would help generate more personal income. With a few exceptions, such as Vinicius Jr, the split of image rights in Madrid is generally 50 percent for the club and 50 percent for the player, although Mbappé’s share is expected to be in his favor.

Sources at PSG still thought it was likely Mbappé would leave. They recalled that he had already decided last summer not to take the option of staying for another year and knew that he had repeatedly expressed his admiration for Madrid.

But these sources also explained that PSG felt “economically protected”. They outlined an agreement in principle with Mbappe that would see the club financially compensated if he leaves after his contract expires on June 30. They said it was a complex deal that covered multiple scenarios – including the French captain giving up some loyalty bonuses that he otherwise might have been entitled to. Mbappé himself also spoke of “all parties being protected” upon his departure, and discussions on this aspect are still ongoing.

It remains to be seen exactly what deal, if any, Mbappé and PSG will strike in this regard. But the French champions have always been keen to emphasize that a possible departure of the striker at the end of the 2023-24 season would not be a “free transfer” in their eyes.

Then came a key development.

On Tuesday February 13, Real Madrid faced RB Leipzig in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16. Senior club figures traveled with insider information. They were told that Mbappé would inform PSG of his decision to leave at the end of the season.

The news was only made public on Thursday, but with the Madrid team still in Germany, the club management informed head coach Carlo Ancelotti. Without knowing whether Mbappé had actually signed a contract or not, the Italian understood that he could count on the striker in his team for next season.

Around 10 days later, Mbappé was spotted on Spanish soil, but in Barcelona and not Madrid, enjoying a few days off. A source said Athleticism he first went to the capital to sign his contract.

It was only this week, in early June, that two other sources shared additional information about the February negotiations. They said that was when Mbappé’s transfer was sealed.

The final stages of the negotiations took place in the greatest secrecy. Madrid tends to operate this way, but sources involved in the deal also said that Mbappe’s mother and agent, Fayza Lamari, had requested that there be no leaks, so that her son would also be protected as possible during his last months with PSG.

Some tension between Mbappe and PSG followed, with manager Luis Enrique occasionally replacing him or leaving him out altogether. “We have to get used to playing without him,” the Spaniard said in March.

After being substituted at halftime of a goalless draw against Monaco, his first professional club, on March 1, Mbappe sat in the stands with his family rather than on the bench with his teammates. Members of the PSG board of directors were watching the rest of the match a few rows away, and reports say there was a heated conversation between them and his mother. Madrid and the players’ camp believe that PSG penalized Mbappé by reducing his playing time. Sources at the French club reject this as false.

The end was approaching, but the fact that PSG and Madrid were still competing in the Champions League reinforced the strategy of total discretion. Three days after the elimination of PSG by Borussia Dortmund in the semi-final, Mbappé however made his decision to make it public.

“I need a new challenge after seven years,” he said, while thanking almost everyone at the club (notably Al-Khelaifi was not mentioned), but little did they know that it was going to happen.

Mbappé wanted to make the announcement before PSG’s last home match of the season, on Sunday May 12. The club decided not to organize anything special for him, but the ultras of the team (with whom Mbappé had shared a barbecue on Friday) dedicated a huge tifo for him.

The following Monday, the newspaper Le Parisien reported that in the run-up to the match, Al-Khelaifi and Mbappé had argued, with the former accusing the latter of not having mentioned him in his farewell video.

THANK YOU. 🔴🔵 @PSG_inside pic.twitter.com/t0cL2wPpjX

— Kylian Mbappé (@KMbappe) May 10, 2024

A PSG source strongly denied this reality, adding that an agreement with Mbappe on the economic conditions of his departure was almost reached.

Later that day, Mbappé was named Ligue 1 Player of the Year for a fifth consecutive season. In his acceptance speech, he recognized Al-Khelaifi, who repeated in 2021, 2022 and 2023 that his star player would not leave PSG for free.

“The new chapter will be very exciting,” Mbappé said of his next move, without revealing the identity of his next club. “Maybe now is not the time (for everyone) to find out.”

We always expected the big reveal to take place after the Champions League final last Saturday. Madrid didn’t want anything, not even the biggest signing in their history, to distract from something so important and difficult to achieve.

Early Monday, two days after the club won a record 15th European Cup/Champions League title, Athleticism said the announcement would be made this week.

Now it’s finally done – and fans can look forward to seeing Mbappe in that famous white kit.

(Top photos: Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton)