According to OK Diario, Real Madrid has already assigned Kylian Mbappé one of football’s most iconic numbers, which he will wear at the Bernabeu starting from the 2024/2025 season.
In a stunning development earlier this week, Mbappé informed his current club of nearly seven years, Paris Saint-Germain, that he will not renew his contract and will therefore depart.
Other clubs showing interest in Mbappé include Liverpool and Arsenal. However, despite MARCA reporting that negotiations between the parties have stalled due to Mbappé’s notoriously tough negotiator, his mother Fayza Lamari, it is widely anticipated that the 25-year-old will join Madrid as a free agent on June 30. This comes after two unsuccessful attempts to make the transfer happen in 2017 and 2022.
According to OK Diario, Madrid intends to get the deal hashed out and then announce Mbappe’s move between the end of the club season and the Russia 2018 winner joining France’s camp for the European Championships which start in Germany on June 14.
Mbappé could potentially be introduced at the Bernabeu during the mentioned period, with a selected number already chosen for him, as reported by the same outlet.
With Karim Benzema’s number 9 likely to be passed on to Palmeiras prodigy Endrick, Real Madrid is said to be keen on assigning Mbappé the number 10. This number is currently held by club legend Luka Modric, but his departure is anticipated at the end of the season as his contract expires. A move to Saudi Arabia or a venture in the MLS are among the possible outcomes for the Croatian.
While Mbappé has previously worn the number 7 at Paris, famously adorned by one of his idols Cristiano Ronaldo during his time at Madrid, he also wears the number 10 for the French national team. This jersey has brought the forward luck on the international stage, notably securing his country a second World Cup at Russia 2018, where he also became the first teenager since Pele to score in the final against Modric’s Croatia.
In Qatar during the winter of 2022, Mbappé netted a hat trick at the same stage, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Lionel Messi’s Argentina, who eventually triumphed on penalties.
