What if Kylian Mbappé had signed in the preseason for Real Madrid and not for Paris Saint-Germain?  On at least two occasions the Spanish team tried seriously to get hold of the young French diamond, who nevertheless preferred to remain in his country. 

The scene took place in late March, when France and Spain met in a friendly at the Stade de France, with victory for the Red by 2 to 0. 

Mbappé had debuted a few days earlier with the first team of the Bleus, after astonishing all of Europe in the Champions League with Monaco, and the Spanish press was already speculating with an interest of his great teams for that young man of 18 then. 

“Do you want to play at Real Madrid?”  A Spanish journalist then asked him after that game. 

Mbappé eluded as he could give a clarifying answer: “Today I am in Monaco, Real Madrid, we will see later”. 

A few months later and with the title of champion of Ligue 1 with Monaco, the Spanish press gave by closed times the signing of Mbappé for Real Madrid. 

According to the press, the team of Florentino Perez came to offer the same amount as the Paris Saint-Germain (180 million euros), but the player, perhaps for fear of being overshadowed by the offensive trident of the ‘BBC’ (Benzema- Bale-Cristiano), finally opted to go to the city of the Eiffel Tower, both for sports and personal reasons. 

– “That’s past” –

“There were many rumors of transfer over me and it is true that we spoke with the leaders of Real, but now that is past,” acknowledged Mbappé in late December in an interview with the sports newspaper Marca. 

“PSG is the team of my city, it’s as if a Madrid kid from Madrid has the opportunity to play in his team and goes to another part, to another country.  No, no, I wanted to play in PSG and I’m very happy for now about how things are happening, “he said then. 

On Wednesday, Mbappé can step on the lawn of the Santiago Bernabéu for the first time as a player, but it will not be his first contact with Real Madrid’s facilities. 

When he was just 10 years old, his dream was to play for Real Madrid. “ We told him that we were going to give him tickets for the Real,” recalls Alain Mboma, an intimate of the family, in a documentary by L’Équipe TV aired in November.  And little Kylian replied: “Someday I’ll be the one to take you to see Real Madrid.” 

– Christian: his idol –

In 2012, Mbappé, aged 14, took his whole family to visit the facilities of the Merengue club.  Real Madrid was already interested in that child, who was invited by Zinedine Zidane himself, who was then part of the club’s management. 

“He could have signed for Real Madrid, he did not do it,” Zidane, currently coach of the first white team, admitted last season, leading two consecutive titles in the Champions League. 

Then Mbappé and his family opted shortly after entering the training structures of Monaco, maintaining a more familiar environment for the teenager. 

On that visit to Madrid, Mbappé was able to greet and photograph himself with what was his great idol, Cristiano Ronaldo, in an image that has acquired a special meaning over time. 

“He is an idol of my childhood and it was nice to meet him when I visited Valdebebas, but I am a competitor, a competitive person, who wants to win, win and win, so it does not matter who is in front of us, what we want is to win I loved him when I was little, but that’s over, now I’m going to the Bernabéu to play and win, “he warned in that interview with Marca de Diciembre.