Jude Bellingham, apparently on a fast-track to superstardom if not already there, deferred to a counterpart who’d climbed to that status long before him.
“He can take us to the next level,” the Real Madrid tyro said of Kylian Mbappe, days before the Frenchman’s years-in-the-making move to the Spanish giants was confirmed.
The next level? Bellingham was speaking on the pitch at Wembley Stadium earlier this month, moments after Madrid had captured a 15th Uefa Champions League title. It represented their sixth in the past decade.
But that is precisely what Mbappe is expected to do. If his transfer from Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) to Madrid was floated seven years ago but formalised only last week, he has been considered an elite footballer for what feels forever.
Mbappe was a Fifa World Cup winner aged 19. He scored in the 2018 final, becoming the first teenager to do so since Pele, some six decades before.
Less than four years on from Russia, Mbappe struck a hat-trick in an astonishing showpiece in Qatar, although this time he finished as runner-up to Lionel Messi and Argentina. Yet the defeat in Doha did little to shadow his shine. Far from it.
Later chosen as Hugo Lloris’ successor as captain of his country, Mbappe now represents the most recognisable club in football. He had always seemed destined to.
There’s the photo, ubiquitous and ultimately prophetic, of a youthful Mbappe lying on his bed, chin resting on hands, as he looks longingly at posters of Cristiano Ronaldo in Madrid white all around him. The reading was that Mbappe was dreaming of one day following the Portuguese’s path there.
A few years from when that image was taken, and with those within top-level football having already identified Mbappe as a youngster of almost unparalleled talent, he was pictured alongside Ronaldo at Madrid, the club’s present megastar together with one for the future.
Even back then, the Spaniards had laid the groundwork; between then and now, Mbappe’s career has been meticulously managed with Madrid in mind.
At times, it has not been a straightforward route. The eventual €200 million bid from the Bernabeu in 2021, rejected by PSG. The contract extension a year later that shocked Madrid and prompted a private apology to Florentino Perez, the club’s hardline president.
Indeed, the figures were dizzying. A three-year deal, which then became two with the option to renew, was worth more than €70m per annum before loyalty bonuses of €70m, €80m, and €90m were factored in.
Twelve months ago, and with a year still to run, Mbappe declared he would in fact not extend beyond the 2023/24 season. PSG reacted by attempting to auction off their prize asset. There were rumours of Madrid, and even Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal.
PSG’s stance was understandable. What were they supposed to do given Madrid were expected eventually to try and land Mbappe for free?
And that they did. That Perez pardoned Mbappe’s earlier decision to remain in Paris and then stayed patient speaks to the player’s pull.
It must be said, though, that Madrid will part with a staggering amount for the forward’s services, reported as anywhere between €15m to €20m per year. A signing-on bonus is understood to come in at €125m, spread across the contract through to 2029. What’s more, Mbappe retains 80 per cent of his image rights.
How many players would Perez have done this for? Granted, Vinicius Junior is among the favourites for the next Ballon d’Or, and Bellingham appears a winner-in-waiting. But Mbappe exists as the true superstar of the post-Ronaldo, post-Messi generation.
Last week, on the morning of the switch to Madrid being confirmed, the player was asked by Emmanuel Macron during a visit to France’s Euro 2024 training camp when the announcement would be made. Clearly, his is a lure not confined to club presidents.
Macron has been a constant, often cited as a discerning, voice in the Mbappe-Madrid saga. PSG are a state-owned club, after all.
For the next four weeks, however, the country’s sporting success will occupy Macron’s mind; France, finalists in three of their past four major tournaments, are righty fancied for a third European Championship crown – and first since the turn of the millennium.
Undeniably, Mbappe is central to that. He might not be the most obvious leader off the pitch, but the current captain is unquestionably France’s lightning in a bottle on it.
At 25, he has scored 48 goals in 79 appearances for his country; overtaking Olivier Giroud's record of 57 goals is as near to a formality as you can get.
The sense since last week is that the completion of the move to Spain will allow Mbappe a freedom in Germany. With that particular distraction dissolved, his focus should be fixed.
He has a point to make, too. At the delayed Euro 2020 three years ago, Mbappe failed to score, even missing the decisive spot-kick against Switzerland that eliminated France from the last 16.
The omens this time around, for the group stage at least, are good. In qualifying, Mbappe scored twice in each match against the Netherlands, while he netted a double against Poland in Qatar less than two years ago. Rounding off the Group D rivals in Germany, he scored in both games against Austria in the 2022 Nations League.
After a goal and two assists in last Wednesday’s 3-0 friendly win against Luxembourg, Mbappe’s goal contribution for France stands at 80 in 79 appearances.
However, it is his recent liberation, from PSG to Madrid and on to the next stratosphere of superstardom, that makes Mbappe the one to watch at this Euros.
"He did a good job today,” manager Didier Deschamps said after the Luxembourg encounter. “His head and body weren't used to playing very much these past couple of weeks, so some juice was missing. But he decided he wants to win everything. It's gotten way better for him."
