Kylian Mbappé Reflects on His Decade-Long Journey to Real Madrid

Kylian Mbappé says his move to Real Madrid was a decade in the making – and driven quietly, consistently, by one man: Florentino Pérez.

In a frank interview with AS, the French star lifted the lid on the long courtship that finally ended with him walking into the Santiago Bernabéu this summer.

“He’s the one who brought me here. We’ve stayed in touch for ten years before I arrived,” Mbappé revealed. “He always showed affection and understanding in the context of every decision made, both positive and negative for Real Madrid. He always told me that one day I would play for Real Madrid, and here I am, and very happy.”

Those conversations, Mbappé stressed, were never about pressure. They were about patience. About timing.

A decade of calls and a sense of destiny

On social media and in the interview alike, Mbappé underlined just how long Pérez kept the line open. “I was in contact with Perez since 10 years before joining Real Madrid,” he was quoted as saying, a reminder that this transfer saga did not spring up overnight.

But for Mbappé, the story was never simply about a powerful president’s persistence. It was about a boy who grew up with Real Madrid posters on his wall, who saw the white shirt not as an option, but as an inevitability.

“To be honest, nothing and no one has to convince you to come to Real Madrid,” the World Cup winner said. The club, in his eyes, sells itself.

“In my history with Madrid, I wanted to come, but it wasn’t possible, and ultimately, in football, there are moments and decisions that are beyond your control. In football, timing is key, and you have to wait for everything to be right before you can go.”

The failed attempts left scars. They also sharpened his focus.

Disappointment, then forward motion

Mbappé admitted the previous collapses of a Madrid move hurt. The expectation, the headlines, the late twists – all of it weighed on him. But he refused to dwell on what might have been.

“Of course, there’s disappointment, but a footballer’s life is about looking forward, not back,” he said.

Even with Pérez’s influence, Mbappé insists there was no grand sales pitch, no dramatic presentation needed to close the deal.

“No one had to convince me to come to Real Madrid, not even Perez, as big a club as he is. It was obvious,” he stated. For him, the logic is simple and brutal for every other club in Europe: “If you want to be part of football history, one day you have to play for Real Madrid.”

That line is not a throwaway. It’s his personal creed. And now it’s the standard he’s chosen to be judged against.

Life at Valdebebas and a new level of fame

Since landing in Spain, Mbappé has settled into Valdebebas and into Madrid life with the calm of someone who believes he is exactly where he is supposed to be. The change of country has brought, as he describes it, a different kind of serenity, even as the spotlight has intensified.

“I expected the best club in the world, to receive a lot of excitement from Madridistas all over the world,” he said. The reality has matched the expectation.

“When I arrived here I already had a status, but when you are a Real Madrid player you move to another level, to a higher level. I think that if you want to belong to the history of football, you have to go through Real Madrid.”

Mbappé has finally walked through that door. The decade-long conversation with Pérez is over. The real one – with the Bernabéu, with history, with the game itself – has only just begun.