Real Madrid unveils Kylian Mbappé; French star describes move “a dream come true”

Kylian Mbappé was presented as a Real Madrid player on Tuesday in front of tens of thousands of fans at the Bernabéu, vowing to “give everything” for the LaLiga champions.

Mbappé, 25, signed a five-year contract at the club after leaving Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer. The France international underwent a medical on Tuesday morning, before visiting Madrid’s Valdebebas training ground to officially put pen to paper on his new deal.

He then arrived at the Bernabéu, where fans had queued for hours to take their seats at the presentation, before holding an extended news conference at the ground.

“Wow. It’s incredible to be here,” Mbappé said in immaculate Spanish at the presentation. “I dreamt for many years about playing for Real Madrid, and today that dream comes true.”

The France captain admitted he had been learning the language in preparation for his move at the news conference.

“I wasn’t the best at school, but in Spanish I gave 100% — I had the dream of playing for Real Madrid,” he said.

Madrid announced last month that Mbappé had agreed to join them, ending their long pursuit of the star forward, after coming close to signing him in 2017 and 2022.

“I want to thank the president [Florentino Pérez] first,” Mbappé said. “He believed in me from the first day. A lot of things happened, but I want to say thank you. I want to thank everyone who has worked for me to come here. I know it was hard but now I’m here, I’m a Real Madrid player.

“Since I was a kid I had one dream, to play here. Being here means a lot to me … Now I want to achieve another dream, being at the level of this club, the best in the world. I can say one thing: I’ll give everything for this club and this badge.”

The 85,000-capacity Bernabéu had been expected to be full for the presentation, with tickets — made available for free to club members — having sold out, although there were some empty seats.