Kylian Mbappé is Florentino Pérez’s 2024 Galáctico and reflects Real Madrid’s new model

Real Madrid have just proclaimed themselves champions of Spain. Not long ago they sealed a landmark Champions League victory. And now, they’ve got the best player in the world, and the biggest brand in the world too, to put pen to paper on a Real Madrid contract. The year is not 2024, but it’s 2003. His name is not Kylian Mbappé, but David Beckham.

The Galáctico policy is nothing new for Florentino Pérez or Real Madrid. Signing world class talents to add to a squad which is already one of the best in the world is what he does best. Mbappé, like Beckham in 2003, will join a squad which much like Figo, Raúl, Zidane and co. has Bellingham, Vinícius, Courtois and co.

Mbappé’s signing, and the figures involved, is that of a true Galáctico. Alongside Vinícius and Bellingham, he is one of the most marketable figures in the game and will sell shirts for fun, while also scoring goals like it’s nobody’s business. He is a unique talent and one which has seemed destined for the club after an ongoing transfer saga which has seen the aura of the club crest once again work its magic.

Taking the Frenchman away from Paris Saint-Germain, his home town club, has many similarities to that of Beckham at Manchester United in 2003. Emotional, political and financial ties kept him in Paris, perhaps longer than Florentino Pérez originally planned or hoped for, but he got his way and he’s brought Mbappé to Spain.

The difference between 2024 and 2003

However, there are marked differences between 2003 and 2024. They show the maturity and growth of a Florentino Pérez who has shown the nous and composure required not just to build a shiny team of superstars, but a winning unit built of so much more than individuals.

The first time around, “Zidanes y Pavones” became the term used to describe the contrasting quality between the first and second string. While Pérez had brought in many of the best in the game, it had left the budget depleted and having to settle for youngsters from La Fábrica and second-rate talents to fill in the gaps. Francisco Pavón and Iván Helguera typified one side, while signings like Thomas Gravesen showed the other. None were terrible players, but they weren’t of the quality of Luis Figo, Ronaldo Nazario or Zinedine Zidane.

This time, there is no such gap. When you look for the weak link in the current squad, you could perhaps point to Ferland Mendy, a French international who was one of the best individual performers in the Champions League final. This is a squad which has been expensively-assembled, but astutely by bringing them in at the right time.

There are those who will say that Florentino has got a little lucky. Expensive gambles on Brazilian teenagers like Vinícius Júnior and Rodrygo Goes don’t always pay off. They’re right, but the doubt is whether that is down to luck. Pérez’s investment off the field, his faith in people like Juni Calafat to surround players with the right characters and paths to settle in Madrid, and the club’s ability to identify the personality of a signing has avoided repeats of the likes of Robinho. It’s where Barcelona have gone wrong with the likes of Vitor Roque.

And by taking those gambles, Florentino has been able to build a squad which has unrivalled talent. A combined €90 million for Rodrygo and Vinícius was laughed at a few years ago. Now, you wouldn’t be able to afford either individual for that price. The latter would easily demand more than twice that on his own. Arda Güler, Endrick and others are the next generation on the same path.

Mbappé is a similar case in some ways. Rather than competing on fuelling rivals with ludicrous transfer fees, he’s brought in the world’s best player for free. Sure, there’s a handsome bonus for the player himself, but he won’t be looking to inflate the transfer market by signing a replacement. He’s learned from the mistakes made over at Camp Nou. Mbappé is not the first, as David Alaba has proved recently. Alphonso Davies has been tipped to be next.

Photo by Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images

Carlo Ancelotti’s role

Perhaps clearest of all in this indication of how the Galácticos have changed is in the dugout. When Beckham rocked up, it was fresh in the wake of the departure of the popular Vicente del Bosque amid a dressing room uprising. When Mbappé arrives, he’ll find a Carlo Ancelotti adored by his board, fans and players. There couldn’t be a stronger contrast.

Pérez had the chance to mix things up this summer. Xabi Alonso is as tantalising and tempting an option as he is ever likely to get. With the team unchallenged in the league, but out of the Copa del Rey and facing a tough Champions League draw, there could have been a younger Florentino who might have been tempted a few months ago. Alonso is the exciting talent and the next big thing in coaching, and would have been the Galáctico coach for this side, but he opted to play it safe and stick with stability in Ancelotti. The Italian repaid him at Wembley.

Such decisions reflect a patience that has developed in Florentino Pérez’s strategy. His goal, to fill his team with the best talents in the world and become financially sustainable at the same time, has taken decades to achieve. But with projects like the new Bernabéu, the inevitable successor to Valdebebas, and long-term investments into his squad, he has found the perfect equilibrium. It’s possible to have the Zidanes without the Pavones. It just took a little patience. In the case of Mbappé, about seven-year’s worth of patience.