Cristiano Ronaldo has broken a record after responding to Kylian Mbappe’s move to Real Madrid.
It’s been the worst kept secret in football, surely?
Mbappe, 25, was heavily linked with a move to the Bernabeu Stadium for several months – if not years – prior to finally being confirmed as a Madrid player in recent days.
The French international had been tracked by the Spanish giants since 2017 and came close to joining in 2022 – before signing a new deal at the Parc des Princes.
However, with his contract expiring at Paris Saint-Germain this summer, Mbappe will now finally make the move to Spain in the highest profile free agent transfer of all time.
Madrid and world-class players go hand in hand. Mbappe will now join the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Jude Bellingham, Zinedine Zidane and Gareth Bale to wear the famous white shirt.
Ronaldo himself is one of the highest profile, and successful, signings the club have ever made.
The Portuguese legend joined in 2009 from Manchester United and went on to make 292 appearances in white before leaving in 2018.
The 39-year-old would later join Serie A giants Juventus after leaving Madrid, before eventually finding his way back to United.
Following an unsuccessful second spell at Old Trafford, Ronaldo pursued a new adventure in Saudi Arabia with Al Nassr – where he currently plays.
Despite now operating in the Middle East, Ronaldo is still keeping tabs on the ongoing events at Madrid and even broke a new record when responding to Mbappe’s announcement post on Instagram.
Speaking on the post, Mbappe said: “A dream come true. So happy and proud to be part of my dream club.
“It’s impossible to explain how happy and excited I feel right now. I can’t wait to see you, Madridistas, and thank you for your incredible support.”
To which Ronaldo replied: “My turn to… [eyes emoji]. Excited to see you light up the Bernabeu.”
According to Daily Sports, Ronaldo’s comment is now the most liked comment in Instagram’s history with just under four million and counting.
Kylian Mbappe used to have posters of Cristiano Ronaldo on his bedroom walls as a kid. Now, he’s about to follow in the footsteps of his idol.
Growing up in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, Mbappe was obsessed with the idea of replicating Ronaldo.
In fact, his father once said his son used to “spend hours” watching videos of CR7 on the internet.
A decade later and Mbappe opened up on how influential the five-time Ballon d’Or winner has been on his career during an interview with Spanish publication MARCA.
“He is a hero from my childhood and it was amazing to meet him when I visited Valdebebas,” he said.
Now, all those years after watching Ronaldo become one of the Bernabeu greats, Mbappe will wear the famous white after his move to Real Madrid was confirmed on Monday night.
“A dream come true,” he said after the deal was announced. “So happy and proud to join the club of my dream, Real Madrid. Nobody can understand how excited I am right now.”
Mbappe also reacted to the move by posting a picture of himself and Ronaldo, from when he bumped into Portugal’s all-time top scorer during a tour of Real’s training ground.
Not long later, the man himself commented on Mbappe’s post with a message of his own.
“My turn to [eye emoji], ” Ronaldo wrote on Instagram. “Excited to see you light up the Bernabeu.”
At the time of writing, the 11-word comment has received more than 818,000 likes in an hour – a number that will likely never be topped on the picture sharing platform.
To give you an insight into his admiration for the Portuguese forward, the 25-year-old’s former teammate Abdou Diallo gave an insight into his mindset when it came to the Ronaldo vs Messi debate.
Speaking in December, the defender said: “Cristiano Ronaldo is literally everything to Kylian Mbappe. If you mention Lionel Messi against Cristiano, Mbappe will debate with you for at least an hour.”
Diallo added: “For him, Cristiano is untouchable.”
Kylian Mbappe has broken his silence after his stunning free transfer to Real Madrid was confirmed.
The France international has signed a five-year deal with Los Blancos until 2029, effective from when his PSG contract officially expires on July 1.
The 25-year-old will join a stacked Real Madrid attack that already includes Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo.
Further details on the move will be confirmed in due course, with a short statement by Real on the club’s official website reading: “Real Madrid CF and Kylian Mbappe have reached an agreement whereby he will be a Real Madrid player for the next five seasons.”
Now, Mbappe has reacted to the move with his own social media post – and it even contains a reference to club icon Cristiano Ronaldo with a photo taken of the pair back when a young Mbappe was given a tour of Real’s training ground.
He wrote: “A dream come true. So happy and proud to join the club of my dream, Real Madrid.
“Nobody can understand how excited I am right now. Can’t wait to see you, Madridistas, and thanks for your unbelievable support. Hala Madrid!”
Mbappe spent seven years at Paris Saint-Germain – the first of those on loan from Monaco – and scored 256 goals in 308 appearances.
Real had long pursued his signing, with the club seeing a huge €180 million bid for the forward rejected by PSG in the summer of 2021.
Mbappe signed a new contract with PSG in May 2022, with the deal initially reported to last until 2025. However, it later emerged that the deal only ran until 2024, with an option to extend by a further year – an option which the France captain declined to activate.
Now, club president Florentino Perez has finally got his man on a free transfer, with Mbappe now beginning the next stage of his career following the conclusion of his Euro 2024 campaign with France.
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