MADRID, Spain — Looking up at the Real Madrid fans packed into the stands at the Santiago Bernabeu, Kylian Mbappé smiled. He had waited a long time to say these words.
“Wow. It’s incredible to be here,” he said. “I dreamt for many years about playing for Real Madrid. Today, that dream comes true.”
The story is well known by now: Mbappé followed Real Madrid as a boy, visited the club on trial, almost joined them in 2017 and again in 2022. Now, Mbappé has actually arrived, officially signing a five-year contract Tuesday after leaving Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer at the end of the 2023-24 season.
Such a long wait deserves a warm welcome and Real Madrid’s fans agreed, flocking to the stadium to greet him. The crowds meant it felt like an off-season LaLiga matchday, but this was all about one man. The vendors didn’t disappoint either, with Mbappé shirts, scarves and facemasks all readily available. The new club shop, built into the side of the redeveloped Bernabeu, became the Kylian Mbappé shop. His face was displayed floor to ceiling on giant screens, the shelves stocked almost exclusively with his shirts.
Fans had queued for hours in the Madrid sunshine, with temperatures coming close to 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degrees Celsius) waiting for the stadium’s gates to open ahead of a midday start. All the tickets — made available for free to club members — had been snapped up days earlier.
The Bernabeu pitch was turned into a stage for the occasion. At one end, where one of the goals would usually be, was a huge podium backed by a giant screen, with Madrid’s 15 European Cups on display. In front of it were seats for invited guests, family and friends, plus Madrid’s club directors, and ample space for photographers and TV cameras. A blue walkway was fashioned to guide Mbappé from the tunnel and across the pitch.
Fifteen years ago, a near-impossible standard was set for player presentations at the Bernabeu when, on the evening of July 6, 2009, Cristiano Ronaldo was introduced at his new home. The stadium was filled with 85,000 fans to greet the Ballon d’Or winner, with people spilling out of the stands and onto the pitch.
A club employee told ESPN they’d never seen anything like the chaos that day. It was described as the biggest event of its kind, topping Diego Maradona’s presentation at Napoli in 1984. Alfredo di Stefano and Portugal‘s Eusebio were in attendance for Ronaldo, with even the player looking impressed.
Could Mbappé’s arrival — even longer awaited — live up to the hype?
For a start, Tuesday’s crowd didn’t quite match that for Ronaldo. There were blocks of seats kept empty at each end, behind the goals, and no mass crowds on the pitch, and there were seats dotted around the stands. Estimates range from at least 70,000 present, with the club putting the figure closer to 80,000. Either way, the fans who were there made their presence felt.
