Kylian Mbappe is finally a Real Madrid player.

Real Madrid said on Monday they reached a deal with the France captain for the next five seasons, bringing together one of football’s top talents and its most successful club.

The announcement came after years of flirtation by Madrid with the player who inherited the status of the best in the game from Lionel Messi.

“A dream come true,” Mbappe said on X. “So happy and proud to join the club of my dream. Nobody can understand how excited I am right now. Can’t wait to
see you, Madridistas (Madrid fans), and thanks for your unbelievable support. Hala Madrid!”

The post was accompanied by a photo of a young Mbappe wearing a Real Madrid jacket.

The 25-year-old World Cup winner with France joins a Madrid team that is already loaded with talent and still celebrating their latest European triumph — and sixth in 10 years.

Just two days ago, Madrid won a record-extending 15th European Cup title when they beat Borussia Dortmund 2-0 in the Champions League final in London.

Mbappe joins a team that already features young stars in Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo and Jude Bellingham.

Until now, Mbappe has played club football only for French teams — first at Monaco and for the past seven seasons at Paris St Germain, which he left as a free agent after they failed to persuade him to renew his contract. Mbappe didn’t take the option for an extra year on the deal he signed two years ago.

In 2021, Madrid were rejected after offering PSG a bid of €180 million — the same amount PSG paid Monaco for a teenage Mbappe years earlier.

Madrid president Florentino Perez made signing Mbappe a strategic club priority since the powerhouse failed to lock him up when Mbappe visited the club’s facilities at age 14.

He, instead, opted to join Monaco’s youth academy, and became a teenage sensation when he helped lead the Principality club to the Champions League semi-finals in 2017.

The Qatar-backed PSG turned down Madrid’s 2021 bid, but with Mbappe’s contract expiring the next year, Madrid took it for granted that Mbappe, who had never hid his desire to one day play for the Spanish club, would come south of the Pyrenees in 2022.

But French President Emmanuel Macron encouraged him to stay, and Mbappe stunned Perez and most of the footballing world by signing a contract extension to “continue his adventure” in Paris.

Madrid won the 2022 Champions League after beating Mbappe’s PSG in the knockout rounds.

Olympic Games’ loss

Mbappe will not play for France at the Paris Olympics after he was left out of Thierry Henry’s provisional squad for the Games on Monday.

The World Cup winner had stated his desire to play at the Games in his home nation. Henry and even President Macron wanted Mbappe to be part of the men’s Olympic team, but he was not included in the 25-man squad.

Henry suggested in a news conference on Monday that Mbappe had not been allowed to play in his home Olympics by his club.