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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Marc Mayo

Kylian Mbappe completes long-awaited free transfer to Real Madrid: 'A dream come true'

Kylian Mbappe Madrid (Organization) Real Madrid Paris Saint-Germain Bernabeu

Kylian Mbappe’s move from Paris Saint-Germain to Real Madrid, the worst kept secret in all of football, is now complete.

On Monday, the French striker left his country’s Euro 2024 camp to fly to the Santiago Bernabeu and officially announce his switch, which will go through when his PSG contract expires on June 30.

While the deal will go down as a free transfer, he is reportedly set to earn £250,000-a-week on a five-year contract in the Spanish capital along with a hefty £128million signing-on fee.

The signing has been a goal of Real club president Florentino Perez for several years and Mbappe, 25, sensationally snubbed Los Blancos two years ago to re-sign with PSG.

It was thought that he was set to stay in Paris until 2025, yet last year he decided not to take up an extension clause to stay beyond the end of the 2023-24 campaign, sparking a fresh saga over his future.

Talks with Madrid are said to have wrapped up months ago and he will join the likes of Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Jr at the Champions League holders.

Mbappe made his breakthrough with Monaco in late 2015 and was quickly snapped up by big-spenders PSG, who paid £153m to sign him in 2018 after an initial loan spell.

In just over 300 appearances for Les Parisiens, he scored an incredible 256 goals and notched 108 assists while winning six Ligue 1 titles and four French Cups.

The World Cup winner will now bid to add the Champions League to his list of honours at the Bernabeu.

“A dream come true, So happy and proud to join the club of my dreams,” he wrote on X.

“Nobody can understand how excited I am right now.

“Can’t wait to see you, Madridistas, and thanks for your unbelievable support.¡Hala Madrid!”

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