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Kylian Mbappe is unveiled in front of 80,000 Real Madrid fans at the Santiago Bernabeu after sealing move from PSG

4 months ago 21

Kylian Mbappe is being unveiled in front of 80,000 Real Madrid  fans at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Real Madrid's broadcast showed Mbappe beaming in the changing rooms as he fitted his white shirt and prepared for the crowd of standing supporters. 

Club president Florentina Perez as well as legends Zinedine Zidane and Pirri preceded Mbappe and saluted supporters before Andrea Bocelli performed. 


'Thank you for putting in so much effort to finally be able to wear this shirt,' said Perez. 'Today you are accompanied by your family, your parents. They have been there for you since the very beginning and we have witnessed everything you have done to achieve what you have achieved. Today, Kylian has achieved his dream. Kylian, welcome home.' 

The French superstar sealed his move from PSG earlier this summer after seven seasons in the French capital as one of football's longest-running transfer sagas climaxed.

He has agreed to take a major pay cut after signing a five-year contract, with the 25-year-old due to receive £12.8million net a season at Madrid, down from the £21.4m net he earned in Paris.

Kylian Mbappe is being unveiled in front of 80,000 Real Madrid fans at the Santiago Bernabeu

The French superstar beamed as he stepped out in front of an adoring crowd 

Around 80,000 fans have arrived at the Santiago Bernabeu to witness his unveiling

His confirmation as a Real Madrid player ended one of football's longest-running sagas

A throng of supporters greeted Mbappe outside the ground to try and get photos and autographs

Row upon row of memorabilia was on sale to commemmorate a historic day in football 

Mbappe's parents, Fayza Lamari (R) and Wilfrid Mbappe (L), walked out in front of the fans 

⚪️🇫🇷 Real Madrid showing exclusive images of 13 years old Mbappé with Zinedine Zidane at their training ground, Valdebebas. pic.twitter.com/BpDO4KbGPx

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 16, 2024

Despite losing out in terms of basic wage Mbappe will be paid a sizeable signing on fee understood to be over £85.6m and will keep an 80 per cent share of image rights on any new commercial deals he signs after becoming a Madrid player. This breaks from the normal 50-50 split the club usually imposes on new players. 

Los Blancos announced recently that he will take the number nine shirt in his first season at the club, which was vacated by Karim Benzema after the 2022-23 season.

Mbappe wore No 7 for the majority of his Paris Saint-Germain career but that jersey currently belongs to Vinicius Junior at Madrid. Meanwhile, Mbappe was France's No 10 at Euro 2024 - a number that has been Luka Modric's at the Bernabeu since 2017. 

France were eliminated from Euro 2024 at the semi-final stage by Spain. 

Madrid had been waiting until Mbappe's Euros participation was over before announcing their plans to officially unveil him. 

The forward has long been linked with a move to Real Madrid and almost joined Los Blancos in the summer of 2022, before he made a late u-turn and penned a new deal with the Ligue 1 side. 

But Mbappe found himself at odds with the French club last summer after he turned down a one-year extension to his deal, citing his unhappiness with the direction the club was taking. 

PSG had been willing to give him greater incentives to stay on a long-term deal with plans afoot to recruit more France internationals and create a closer identity with the club's fan base.

Zinedine Zidane, Florentino Perez, and Pirri are present at his unveiling 

Kylian Mbappe wore the No 10 shirt for France at Euro 2024 but he will be Real Madrid's No 9

Mbappe, pictured in May this year, wore the No 7 for most of his Paris Saint-Germain career

His decision led to him being briefly banished from first-team training, and while he eventually returned to the starting XI under Luis Enrique, speculation continued to mount throughout the campaign that he would depart this summer.

Mbappe only officially announced he would be leaving on Friday, May 10 as he shared a heartfelt message to the club's fans. 

'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,' he said.

'I will not extend and the adventure will come to an end in a few weeks.

'I will play my last game at the Parc des Princes on Sunday. It's a lot of emotion; many years where I had the chance and the great honour to be a member of the biggest French club - one of the best in the world - which allowed me to arrive here, to have my first experience in a club with a lot of pressure.

'To grow as a player of course, by being alongside some of the best in history - some of the greatest champions; to meet a lot of people, to grow as a man as well, with all the glory and the mistakes I've made.

'It's hard, and I never thought it would be this difficult to announce that, to leave my country, France, Ligue 1, a championship I have always known, but I think I needed this - a new challenge after seven years.'

Mbappe's decision to leave Paris for Madrid has been welcomed in the Spanish capital as the final piece in the puzzle for Ancelotti to lead a team that can dominate European football for the next decade. 

After his exit was confirmed, PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi left the door open to him returning one day.

'I wish him all the best,' Al-Khelaifi said.

‘He did amazing for us in seven years and was vice captain. He arrived with us as a teenager and now he is a big man, the best player in the world and I wish him all the best.’

More to follow. 

Mbappe's career in numbers 

1x World Cup

7x Ligue 1

4x Coupe de France

3x Trophée des Champions

1x World Cup Golden Boot

1x Golden Boy

3x Ligue 1 Young POTY

5x Ligue 1 POTY

6x Ligue 1 top scorer

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