Kylian Mbappé and Real Madrid, a match made in football heaven

Kylian Mbappé to Real Madrid, the galactic transfer finally finished Sundayit was a slow-burn saga of power, money, politics and ambition.

It all started years ago with flirting and dating. A presidential intervention and Qatar’s wealth prolonged it. But an explosive letter from 2023 reignited it. And throughout 2024, a crescendo of rumors and reports, each firmer than the last, turned a likely outcome into a foregone conclusion. Mbappé decided to leave Paris Saint Germain; he then communicated his decision to the club; then reached an agreement with Real Madrid; then he announced his imminent departure. He even built his new home in Spain.

The fact that he was going to Madrid became the worst-kept secret in all of sports, a secret that hung over him and two entire countries.

Now, however, it is simply a match made in football heaven.

It’s the rare compatible marriage between superstar and superclub.

And with contracts now officially signedand official announcements coming soon, it’s a childhood dream come true.

This was the only sensible outcome of the saga, even after Mbappé rejected Real Madrid in 2022. This time, he never seriously considered or negotiated with any other club. Because there was only one who could match and expand his ambition.

Madrid, of course, was also the club that adorned the walls of his childhood bedroom. That is the romantic story, and one that will certainly be told to divert attention from the more cynical view – the accusation that this is some kind of competitive excuse. Mbappé failed to win the Champions League in seven seasons at PSG. That he’s joining the team that seemingly always wins, à la Kevin Durant for the Golden State Warriors, is not lost on anyone.

But the real story here is more pragmatic and rational. The fit is perfect. Real Madrid, tactically, culturally and commercially, was really the only club capable of accommodating Mbappé’s talent and celebrity.

His move will draw comparisons with his previous superteam and the Lionel Messi-Neymar-Mbappé trident that defined PSG 2021-23. His failures, of course, will pose a provocative question: Are we sure that Mbappé in Madrid will work?

But their new attacking trident – ​​Mbappé, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham, arguably the three best players in the world today – will look very different.

Messi and Neymar were (and are) ball-dominant stars around whom a team should revolve. Neither defends. Messi hardly runs. Both are great as singular focal points, but when there were multiple focal points in Paris, the team’s balance and chemistry went awry.

Not in Madrid, because Mbappé, Vini and Bellingham are all flexible.

While PSG had to build a team around certain players, Real Madrid will welcome Mbappé into a team that has already been carefully constructed.

In fact, the team structure will hardly have to change. Real Madrid have conquered Spain and Europe this season in an unconventional 4-3-1-2, with Vini and Rodrygo as fluid forwards moving from the touchline to the center, and Bellingham behind them. Mbappé, at worst, will simply take over Rodrygo’s position – for which he seems ideally suited – and increase the team’s dominance.

At best, he will equip Real Madrid’s astute coach Carlo Ancelotti with new options and dynamism. Mbappé can play in the center of a three, as part of an attacking two or on the wing. He could play as a classic striker in a 4-3-3, with Vini on the left and Rodrygo on the right and Bellingham deeper. Or he could go into a 4-3-1-2 formation and offer a more direct attack, more speed, more goals, more… everything.

This “clinic [number] nine,” Bellingham said on Saturday after the 2-0 Champions League final victory over Borussia Dortmund, is “the one little thing that maybe [the current Real Madrid team were] absent.”

“If he would come and give us this,” Bellingham said about Mbappé, “we would be in a really, really good place. He would take us to another level.”

And his arrival will not, or at least should not, disrupt Real Madrid’s dressing room. The players, according reports, reacted to Mbappé’s news with enthusiasm, not skepticism or discomfort. And Mbappé is not your typical megastar; he is, by all accounts, humble and personable. With Vini and Bellingham, and with his French compatriots Aurélien Tchouaméni and Eduardo Camavinga, and with many others, he should fit in perfectly.

And your salary will help you do that. According to reports, it is not the stratospheric salary he was offered two summers ago by Real Madrid and PSG. His annual salary, around $16 million, will be more in line with Vini and Bellingham. He will receive a huge signing bonus – reportedly well over $100 million – and retains certain image rights. But the structure of the contract will, to some extent, help you integrate.

And while Messi and Neymar were bigger than PSG, no one is bigger than Real Madrid. Mbappé will join a club with well-trained infrastructure and systems, accustomed to supporting and managing players like him. He will raise the club’s football ceiling; but the club can actually raise his profile more than he can raise theirs.

And the rich will get richer.