Mbappe Announces Departure from PSG and Real Madrid Dream Comes Within Reach

In a momentous announcement, Kylian Mbappe has revealed his intention to officially leave PSG at the end of the season, with strong indications that the French superstar will fulfill his lifelong dream of donning the Real Madrid jersey.

When it comes to the relationship between Los Blancos and Kylian Mbappe, there is hardly anyone in the football world who is unaware of the 25-year-old forward’s deep admiration for the Spanish club. In fact, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call him a Madridista since childhood.

Mbappe has never hidden his love for Real Madrid, which is evident in the famous photograph that has circulated on social media for years. The picture captures him at around 15 or 16 years old, sitting in his bedroom surrounded by posters of Cristiano Ronaldo wearing the Real Madrid jersey, plastered all over the walls.

There is a story that a family friend once gifted him a miniature model of the Santiago Bernabeu stadium when Mbappe turned 10. In response, Mbappe famously said, “One day, I will bring you there and have you sitting in the VIP stands of Real Madrid.” From a young age, Mbappe fearlessly expressed his dream of playing for Real Madrid in the future. One doesn’t need to be a literary critic to recognize the hidden message in his autobiography, “Je M’Appelle Kylian” (My Name is Kylian), which he personally released.

Right from the opening lines of the book, Mbappe recounts a dream where he meets Cristiano Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane. In that dream, Ronaldo and Mbappe play football together, while Zidane presents the young boy with a freshly laundered white Real Madrid kit.

In another scene from the autobiography, Zinedine Zidane takes Mbappe to Real Madrid’s training facility at Valdebebas. On the return flight, Mbappe’s father asked him if he had a pleasant weekend, to which he replied by calling the visit “the best thing in his life.”

And the small dream from the autobiography has become a reality. In 2012, Mbappe was indeed invited by Real Madrid to visit Valdebebas, and he even had the opportunity to take a memorable photo with his childhood idol, Cristiano Ronaldo.

“He is one of my childhood idols, and it was great to meet him when I visited Valdebebas,” Mbappe reminisced about Ronaldo in an interview with Marca before PSG’s clash with Real Madrid in 2018. “I admired him a lot during my early days…”

Zidane once advised Mbappe to sign a contract with the Bernabeu club when he was young, but the young player – who would go on to become a World Cup champion – declined because his family wanted him to stay in France. Instead, he chose to move to Monaco in 2015.

“My parents wanted me to start my career in France, so that I could benefit from the French education system in both football and academics,” he told French news magazine L’Obs in 2021. “Going to Spain, even to learn from Zidane, meant being in a different country with a different culture.”

However, Real Madrid was determined not to miss out on such talent. In 2017, they reignited the transfer pursuit for the French superstar. In 2018, Monaco’s Vice President at the time, Vadim Vasilyev, shared with Canal+ that, “I remember when we were training, Real Madrid called me and said, ‘We accept €180 million for Kylian.’ Then I met Kylian and told him, ‘The club has received an offer we can’t refuse. It’s the club of your dreams. Think carefully about it and let me know your answer.’”

However, the deal fell through at the last minute when Mbappe’s father had doubts about his son’s ability to compete for a starting position at Real Madrid, considering the presence of world-class forwards like Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, and Gareth Bale.

Those doubts played in PSG’s favor, as they ensured a starting spot for Mbappe, offering him a loan deal with an obligatory purchase clause, along with a massive salary of $21 million per year, not including bonuses. Mbappe reluctantly agreed to the terms.