The Florentino Pérez train would be enough to make Valérie Pécresse and Jean Castex jealous. His punctuality is matched only by his obstinacy in spending every year at the same time under Kylian Mbappé’s window, and, another major advantage, until no time later. To those who thought he would not come back after the striker’s last extension at PSG: 2024 should be the right one. Real Madrid is starting to prepare for it, with the distrust born from past betrayals. Basically, Merengue supporters had almost mourned his arrival, and the advent of Jude Bellingham helped them a lot. The place to be taken in the merengue heart is no longer completely empty. The proof, the montages of KM7 under each PSG post on the networks have become rarer, not to say evaporated.
A story of weariness above all, explains the editor-in-chief of the Merengue media La Galerna, Francisco Javier Sanchez Palomares. “Some of the supporters have had enough of the Mbappé file, and on the other hand, this season, Real Madrid has a more complete squad. » An idea very well summed up by the thoughts of actor Viggo Mortensen, a big football fan and keen observer of the Merengue. “It’s just for the club president’s ego,” Aragorn said. has Provence. I think that with Bellingham and Rodrygo we have what we need, Mbappé is not necessary. It should have happened two years ago, now it’s too late.”
“The general opinion will change when Mbappé does what he does best: score a lot of goals,” calms Sanchez Palomares. The tide could turn sooner than expected, particularly in the event of elimination in the quarter-final of the Champions League against Manchester City, the first act of which is played this evening. “In the event of disappointment, there would be consensus around his arrival. »
Mbappé at the head of the Galactics 2.0?
The only one that the Kyks could really bother is called Rodrygo, who speaks of the arrival of the Frenchman as a “good coaching problem”, an elegant way of saying that we are worried about his starting place. Otherwise, “whether it is the players or the coach, Carlo Ancelotti, everyone at the club considers the recruitment of Mbappé as essential”, believes Diego Torres, journalist at El País. The Madrid sports press is obviously on the side of the enthusiasts, even if it means waking up the dead and invoking old legends, like the Galacticos. Excerpt from an exchange with Luis Figo during a match between former Real and Porto players a few weeks ago:
– With Mbappé, will it be the Real of the Galactics again?
– It’s up to you to decide (laughs). But yes, I agree. Version 1.0 wasn’t bad, so version 2.0 will be good too.
Question of perspective. If it appeals to the former Madrid number 10, the idea of a remake of the Galactics with Mbappé, Bellingham, Vinicius and the Endrick phenomenon awakens the traumas of Ivan Helguera, former historic defender of the Casa Blanca at a time when the species, then extremely rare at the Bernabeu, struggled as best they could to compensate for the wanderings of its offensive stars.
“ “You have to see the mistakes that were made, there were a lot of numbers and very good players… but we didn’t win anything. What went wrong? The balance. A lot of players were coming up and then the back and forth didn’t happen so easily… It was very complicated to defend with this type of player. You have to have a balance with players who also go up and down. » »
On this point, the fears concerning Mbappé are well-founded. Luis Enrique certainly miraculously succeeded in instilling defensive principles in him where his predecessors failed, but he probably sacrificed his capital sympathy with the player, which ultimately mattered little to him once the death knell of his adventure tolled. Paris. Real certainly won’t be able to handle it in the same way.
The power of the Real institution to channel Mbappé
What also inspires the Mbappé-Luis Enrique relationship in Madrid? His sometimes questionable behavior, like his post-classic spleen or his time in the stands against Monaco? “What we see here from Mbappé is that he is a professional, a respectable person,” says Diego Torres. In any case, the merengue are very confident in the fact that players can transform positively by arriving at Real Madrid. It may be fantasy, but people really mean it. »
For the moment, and as recalled by Francisco Javier Sánchez Palomares, the attacks on the arrival of the captain of the France team come mainly and logically from the rival clan. And it is Joan Laporta, president of FC Barcelona, who personally takes charge of the demolition business in an interview with Mundo Deportivo. “There they have a problem [si Kylian Mbappé arrive]. You have to sell a player, right? Because they’re both not going to play [avec Vinicius] at the same location. And they are also very important, very expensive players. Speaking of numbers, it’s going to make a mess in the locker room. It’s not a gift. » Very nice attempt at interference, but it will take a lot more to dissuade the Florentino Pérez train from entering the station at the opening of the transfer window.