MADRID (AP) 鈥� Kylian Mbapp茅 is finally a Real Madrid player.
Real Madrid said on Monday it reached a deal with the France star for the next five seasons, bringing together one of soccer鈥檚 top talents and its most successful club.
The announcement came after years of flirtation by Madrid with the player who inherited the status of the best in the game from Lionel Messi.
鈥淎 dream come true,鈥� on X. 鈥淪o happy and proud to join the club of my dream. Nobody can understand how excited I am right now. Can't wait to see you, Madridistas (Madrid fans), and thanks for your unbelievable support. 隆Hala Madrid!鈥�
The post was accompanied by a photo of a young Mbapp茅 wearing a Real Madrid jacket.
The 25-year-old World Cup winner with France joins a Madrid team that is already loaded with talent and still celebrating its latest European triumph 鈥� and sixth in 10 seasons.
Just two days ago, Madrid won a record-extending 15th European Cup title when it beat Borussia Dortmund 2-0 in the Champions League final in London.
Mbapp茅 joins a team that already features young stars in Vin铆cius J煤nior, Rodrygo and Jude Bellingham.
Until now, Mbapp茅 has played club soccer only for French teams 鈥� first at Monaco and for the past seven seasons at Paris Saint-Germain, which he left as a free agent after it failed to persuade him to renew his contract. Mbapp茅 for an extra year on the deal he signed two years ago.
In 2021, Madrid was rejected after offering PSG a bid of 鈥� the same amount PSG paid Monaco for a teenage Mbapp茅 years earlier.
Madrid president Florentino P茅rez made signing Mbapp茅 a strategic club priority since the powerhouse failed to lock him up when Mbapp茅 visited the club鈥檚 facilities at age 14.
He, instead, opted to join Monaco鈥檚 youth academy, and became a teenage sensation when he helped lead the Principality club to the Champions League semifinals in 2017.
The Qatar-backed PSG turned down Madrid's 2021 bid, but with Mbapp茅鈥檚 contract expiring the next year, Madrid took it for granted that Mbapp茅, who had never hid his desire to one day play for the Spanish club, would come south of the Pyrenees in 2022.
But French President Emmanuel Macron encouraged him to stay, and Mbapp茅 stunned P茅rez and most of the soccer world by to 鈥渃ontinue his adventure鈥� in Paris.
Madrid won the 2022 Champions League after beating Mbapp茅鈥檚 PSG in the knockout rounds.
P茅rez said after Mbapp茅 turned down his club two years ago that perhaps it was best he didn鈥檛 come after all, but there were no bridges burned and Madrid is getting a once-in-a-generation player as a free agent.
Mbapp茅鈥檚 resume features winning the World Cup at 19, a World Cup final hat trick at 23, seven French leagues, four French Cups, and a proven prowess for dominating games with his scoring ability.
Mbapp茅 captains France. When they won the World Cup in 2018, he was the second teenager after to score in a . Four years later, he was one of to score a hat trick in a World Cup final when France fell to Messi's Argentina.
Mbapp茅 was unable to lead PSG to the ultimate goal of a Champions League crown, losing the only final he played in 2020. He also failed to score in both semifinal legs against Dortmund this season.
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Associated Press writer Joseph Wilson reported from Barcelona.
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AP soccer:
Tales Azzoni And Joseph Wilson, The Associated Press
