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June 4, 2024

Kylian Mbappe: With the arrival of football’s world star, Real Madrid solidifies their dominance for the next ten years – La Liga

Kylian Mbappe, the winner of the French World Cup, will finally join Real Madrid on a free transfer, after a will they/won’t they that seemed to last longer than Ross and Rachel from Friends. Pete Sharland examines the implications of Mbappe’s transfer for his new team and himself with TNT Sports analysts Julien Laurens, Ally McCoist, Rio Ferdinand, and Steve McManaman.

It’s finished at last. European champions Real Madrid have announced the signing of World Cup winner Kylian Mbappe, capping off an incredible season that also included victories in La Liga and the Supercopa de Espana.

With his free transfer from Paris Saint-Germain, the 25-year-old ends one of the longest transfer sagas in recent memory.

Real Madrid and Mbappe have been associated for a few years now, but it feels like decades. Ever since those well-known pictures of his childhood wall first surfaced.

Mbappe hopes that this will prove to be the game-changing event that elevates the electric forward from being among the best of his generation to the greatest of all time.

This marks the end of the most fantastic rebuilding project that a top-tier superclub has ever completed for Madrid.

President Florentino Perez has witnessed the departure of players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Sergio Ramos, and Karim Benzema. Toni Kroos is expected to follow this summer, and Luka Modric will follow in the coming years.

However, the winning has continued. On Saturday, Real Madrid won its sixth UEFA Champions League championship in 11 years. Four La Liga titles in a single season are not enough for a team like Real Madrid, but it is also no small feat.

With Mbappe, the team appears well-positioned for the upcoming ten years. Along with Federico Valverde, Andriy Lunin, Aurelien Tchouameni, Brahim Diaz, Rodrygo Goes, Vinicius Junior, Eduardo Camavinga, Arda Guler, and, of course, Jude Bellingham, the Frenchman is one of ten important Madrid players who are 25 years of age or younger. The 26-year-old defensive stalwart Eder Militao is an additional addition.

After the Champions League final, Steve McManaman and Rio Ferdinand debated this point on TNT Sports in light of the arrival of Mbappe and Brazilian sensation Endrick, who will turn 18 in July.

“Now they don’t need to buy players anymore because the players want to join them so much that they’re orchestrating moves to get there,” McManaman said. 

“They have a new stadium [and] the team is young. Everybody’s looking at this team, thinking this could be a decade of dominance. And if you are good enough: ‘how can I orchestrate a move to this team?'” 

Ferdinand added: “What is scary right now is they have Kylian Mbappe coming here, Endrick, the next golden boy in Brazilian football. The recruitment has been nothing short of remarkable the last few years. 

“From being the Galacticos over the years to buying the best young talent around, growing them, grooming them like Vinicius, like Rodrigo, to become superstars. ”

“Players now want to come to this club more than anywhere in the world because of what they do. They groom players, they improve players, all while putting trophies in the cabinet.”  

TNT Sports expert Julien Laurens supports PSG and has followed Mbappe’s career since he made his debut in the first team.

Laurens said: “He will arrive in Madrid and be like ‘This is my club now’. That’s just the way he is.

“I think he really cares about the club [PSG]. He’s just too big now for Ligue 1. Of course, he’s leaving, but I think he really cares. That’s why he’s so committed.”

According to Laurens, Mbappe is unquestionably “the greatest” in the club’s history. He departs as the record goalscorer for PSG with 256 goals.   

However, what can Madrid and the global community anticipate from Mbappe in the capital of Spain? When Mbappe showcased his incredible skill against FC Lorient earlier in the season, TNT Sports pundit Ferdinand noted two things: the final result and the sheer magnitude of the skill required.

Ferdinand said: “This had me hitting the high notes, look at the defender here he says ‘the ball’s out, the ball’s out, oh my god it’s gone, where is he?’ 

“This is like a magic man in the circus just doing stuff we don’t see, this isn’t normal you just don’t see anyone doing that. 

“But at the speed he does it, he executes – and then he doesn’t just do a bit of skill then pass it wide, throw it away, and just celebrate the skill – he does the skill, bang in the middle, it’s a goal, end product.” 

Ally McCoist, a fellow TNT Sports expert, is no stranger to goal scoring, and in his opinion, Mbappe has already attained that genuinely elite level.

“Mbappe is arguably one of the best players, if not the best player in the world at this moment in time,” McCoist told TNT Sports before the upcoming European Championship, where he is expected to star for France. “He has taken over the mantle from Messi and Ronaldo.  

“His main assets are goalscoring and his pace; there is no doubt about that, and he has it in bundles. 

“I think he is probably better using his pace coming off a wing, whether that is the left preferably, or the right.  

“He can finish with either foot, he is technically excellent, and I think he will be a real threat in these [European Championship] games.” 

McCoist added: “I wouldn’t say he has any weaknesses, to be quite honest with you, 

“He is maybe stronger in some departments than others, but in terms of weaknesses, I don’t think he has any.” 

McCoist also lit up when asked about playing with Mbappe, albeit with one important caveat.  

“I would have loved playing with Mbappe, I would have absolutely loved playing with Mbappe,” he said with a huge smile.  

“He is one of those players who, if he’s coming off the side, you know he is getting by his full-back.  

“All you need to do as a center forward is get in the box, he’d probably have to slow down for me to be true!

“At the same time, I would loved to have played with him because once he went by that full-back, nine times out of 10 you have got a tap in or one coming off the goalkeeper.” 

Even his new team-mate Bellingham is excited about his arrival, telling TNT Sports after the Champions League final “If that was to happen, it would be amazing. 

“He’d take us to another level,” Bellingham said.

“A player like him…you see tonight I think it’s the only little thing that maybe we’re missing in terms of that clinical nine and I think if he was to come and give us that, we’d be in a really, really great place.” 

Mbappe scored eight more goals in the Champions League and 27 in Ligue 1 during the recently concluded season. Only Harry Kane (36 goals) and Serhou Guirassy (28 goals) scored more in the top five leagues in Europe; no one scored more in the Champions League.

The question of fit is one aspect of the signing that has drawn criticism from some. Mbappe prefers to cut inside from the left side of the field. Rodrygo, Vinicius, the Ballon d’Or candidate, also favors that position.

This season, Mbappe has occasionally attempted to play as a central forward, partly because he knows what could be expected of him in Madrid. Still, there’s no denying the source of his best football. Madrid, but there’s no denying the source of his finest footballing.

Before the Champions League final, the former McManaman voiced similar worries about Mbappe, stating that the forward would be under pressure.

McManaman said: “There will be a certain amount of pressure [on Mbappe] if Real Madrid win the Champions League this year because they’ll have Rodrygo, Vini, Jude, Endrick and potentially Kylian next year and five into three doesn’t go. 

“Someone will have to drop out. The pressure is on him, but he’s good enough to succeed. If they win the Champions League, he’s arguably joining the best team in the world now, and he’ll be treated like a god.  

“It’s a move he had to make, as much as the Paris Saint-Germain fans are upset and the president is upset, but I think it’s a choice he had to make because if he wants to be the best player in the world for the next five years, he needs the stage to perform on and I think this is it.” 

Now, the question on everyone’s mind is: Is Mbappe capable of going the extra mile? He is undoubtedly among the world’s top two or three players and will likely remain so for some time. Can he, however, advance to the next level and become one of the greats that have adorned this game?

With only a few obstacles to get past, he is heading toward one of the greatest circumstances you could ask for. For the next ten years, he, Bellingham, and Vinicius should control all of Europe. It will be interesting to see how it all comes together.

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