Kylian Mbappé to Real Madrid: The truth behind a historic signing

Champions League winners Real Madrid have announced the free transfer signing of Kylian Mbappé, who joins Vini Jr. and Jude Bellingham in the Spanish capital.

The Frenchman has finally made his move to Real Madrid official, in one of the most important sporting operations in history. A long-awaited, desired and applauded signing in which the figures are overwhelming.

Picture credit: X - @realmadrid

There had been much speculation about the length of the contract. Mbappé signed a five-year contract with Real Madrid, until 2029, which means the French striker will be in Madrid until he turns 30.

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According to Defensa Central, Mbappé will be paid €13m net (£11m/$14.14m) (€26m gross/£22.14m/$28.28m), the same as Vini Jr and Jude Bellingham.

Real Madrid have not had to pay PSG a single euro, as Mbappé's contract in the French capital had expired. This usually results in the player taking a sign-on bonus, which in his case amounts to €100m (£85.16m/$108.77m), which the club will pay the player at €20m (£17.04m /$21.76m) for each year of his contract.

€200m (£170.33m/$217.54m) is the highest offer Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez made to PSG for Kylian Mbappé when he was still under contract at PSG. However, the Parisian club turned it down and have now seen the best player in their history leave for free to one of their great rivals.

PSG did not charge a transfer fee, but will save a considerable amount of money, as Mbappé was earning €72m (£61.32m/$78.31m) gross a year, or €6m (£5.11m/$6.53m) a month, making him one of the highest-paid players in the world. At Real Madrid, he will earn less than half that.

With the number 7 on the back of Vini Jr. and the number 10 in the hands of Luka Modric, Mbappé will wear the number 9, pending the Croatian's retirement and handing over the number 10 to him. At that point, the number 9 would presumably go to Brazilian prodigy Endrick.

It has been seven years since Real Madrid wanted to sign the then Monaco striker, but the 18-year-old opted at the time to stay in France and go to his native Paris to grow as a player at PSG.

In December 2012, a 13-year-old Mbappé visited Real Madrid's training facilities in Valdebebas, but refused to come to Madrid to finish his studies in France with his family.

In just 12 hours, the Real Madrid tweet announcing the signing of Mbappé accumulated 82 million views and counting. The world looks set to see the Frenchman excel in a Real Madrid shirt.

Picture credit: Instagram - @RealMadrid

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