Last week, Kylian Mbappe released a video on his social media platforms, announcing that he will be leaving Paris Saint-Germain at the end of the season.
Although most fans of the sport had suspected this would happen with many journalists and insiders confident of his decision to leave PSG this year, many fans of the French side held out hope that their young hero would stay.
“I wanted to speak to you. I’ve always said that I would speak with you when the time comes, and so I wanted to announce to you all that it’s my last year at Paris Saint-Germain. I will not extend, and the adventure will come to an end in a few weeks.” he said during his announcement on x.
Mbappe added: “Despite everything that can happen on the outside, all this media hype that surrounds the club sometimes, there are some real club lovers who want to protect it and make it shine. And I know that with all these people, this club is in great hands.
“It’s hard, it’s hard, and I never thought it would be this difficult to announce that I’m leaving my country, France, the Ligue 1, a championship I have always known.
Their hopes, however, were for nought despite the best efforts of the club and even France President, Emmanuel Macron. Now that Mbappe will be pursuing a new challenge, his destination has not been officially decided but nearly everyone knows that the poster boy of this era of football will become a Galactico this summer.
Real Madrid have been linked to Mbappe since his breakout season at AS Monaco in 2017, before he joined PSG but those links have led to transfer attempts in the last few seasons. The Spanish champions have had a transfer bid of close to €200 million for the Frenchman rejected in that time as well as last summer where it looked like Mbappe was set to join Real before opting to stay one more year.
Now it looks like Real Madrid will finally get their man this summer, although anything can happen in this sport. Famous American streamer and budding transfer news broadcaster ishowspeed has weighed in on the situation, claiming that Mbappe would not be heading for Madrid but the less said about that, the better.
Does joining Real Madrid make Mbappe the best player in the world?
Well, not automatically. Although most would argue that Mbappe is currently the best player in the world and he has been for the last few years his stock in those debates has not seemed to be very high. This is most likely because of his lack of silverware on the continental stage for club and country (important to note that Real Madrid and Croatia’s Luka Modric won the Ballon d’Or even though Mbappe’s France won the World Cup in 2018).
The French Ligue 1 is a league with good quality but the marketability and financial strength of the division make it one of the lesser-watched Leagues around the world when compared to the Premier League and La Liga. Regardless, PSG tickets are still always in high demand.
Their reputation of being a league that sells some of its best players every year, PSG’s domestic dominance and less-than-ideal continental performances from year to year means the general perception of this league by fans and award voters isn’t the greatest.
Since 2017, Mbappe has finished in the top 10 of the Ballon d’Or rankings, which is impressive in its own right, but the France international has only secured one podium finish. This came last year when he finished third behind Erling Haaland and Lionel Messi, who won his eighth (and most likely final) Golden Ball.
With the era of Ronaldo and Messi’s dominance fully behind us, this era will be seen as the Mbappe era and there is no better place to spend your prime years as the face of the sport than Real Madrid.
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Mbappe’s PSG career was a trophy-laden one which saw him win seven Ligue 1 titles, three-time French Cup winner, and be the top scorer in the League five times with PSG. He became their all-time top scorer and has scored 256 goals in 307 appearances for the club.
There is enough evidence to suggest that Mbappe is the best player in the world already and has been. This season he has scored 44 goals with 10 assists to his name in 47 matches. There isn’t anyone doing it like him this season, so he has got the talent part down at least.
What completing a move to Real Madrid does for the 25-year-old is put him in a more televised League while playing for a club that has quite several Ballon d’Or winners to their name historically. This century, Real Madrid has had a player win the Golden Ball nine times.
He will also be moving to a club that knows how to win on big European nights. Real Madrid have won five of the last 10 Champions League titles and are currently favorites to win an 11th when they take on Dortmund next month.
The age profile is another thing to look at with the current Real Madrid squad. Some of their best players like Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Junior, Federico Valverde, Eduardo Camavinga and Rodrygo among others are aged 25 and under. At 25, Mbappe fits perfectly into the young core of the team.
The Mbappe Dynasty
Already, Kylian Mbappe would go down in history as one of the best players to play football but playing (and winning silverware) for Real Madrid puts a player on another level of greatness.
Mbappe has been in Ballon d’Or conversations in the past but it won’t be long before he becomes the outright favourite. One thing is certain, even if he doesn’t become a Galactico, he will eventually win one (or maybe even more than one) Ballon d’Or in his career. It is only a matter of time.
