The original idea was to unveil the player at the Bernabéu on a date between the end of the season and the start of the Euros, but there is a problem with the calendar.
Kylian Mbappé’s official presentation at the new Bernabéu is one of Real Madrid’s best kept secrets. That understandable as the club still cannot take the signing of the Parisian for granted although, as AS already announced at the time, everything is agreed between both parties and barrring any major turn of events, Mbappé will be Real Madrid’s big galactic signing this summer. The initial idea was to find a date after the end of the season and before the Euro 2024 tournament gets underway in Germany. The presentation will be on a scale of Christiano’s in 2009. But as this newspaper learned, there is a problem with the calendar.
PSG’s Ligue1 campaign comes to an end on Saturday 18 May away at Metz. However, Madrid commitments in the league don’t conclude until a week later – with the home game against Betis at the Bernabéu on Sunday 26 May. While Madrid are still in competition, it is impossible to do anything with Kylian. In fact, if everything ends as it seems and Madrid are proclaimed league champions, the day of the Betis will be the party of the 36th alirón with the fans in Cibeles, so nothing is going to happen in the days leading up to the Betis game.
Champions League weekend
The days immediately after LaLiga ends would also be a good time to stage the presentation if it were not for the fact that on Saturday 1 June, the Champions League final will be played at Wembley. PSG and Madrid are heading through different routes of the bracket – both are in the quarter finals, so there is a chance that one, or both of them, could end up in the final in London.
France busy preparing for Euro 2024
So let’s look at early June. Let’s not forget that Euro 2024 kicks off in Germany on Friday 14 June. France coach Didier Deschamps plans to call up his squad at the end of May, to have at least two weeks to prepare for their Euros debut, against Austria in Düsseldorf on 17 June. Sources at Real Madrid tell us that “asking Deschamps to let Mbappé leave the camp for one day so that he can attend his presentation in the Spanish capital is not very reasonable. It would be very difficult to see them accepting that…”.
And on top of that, Madrid would also have to ask PSG for another permit, given that, officially, Kylian’s contract with the Parisian clube does not end until 30 June. Too many complications…
Therefore, it is not ruled out that we will have to wait until the beginning of August, once Madrid has returned from its tour of the United States (Ancelotti’s team plays against Chelsea on 6 August in Charlotte). After that, there are just 11 days left before the start of the 2024/25 league season, scheduled for the weekend of 17-18 August.
That is a window with the least upsets as Mbappé would already be integrated into Ancelotti’s squad and the Bernabéu can receive him with full honors and packed to the rafters as a new Blancos star. The only certainty is that the Bernabéu might just be too small for such a massive day, whenever it may be…
