Few signings have been as eagerly sought after and coveted by Real Madrid as that of Kylian Mbappé. He played hard to get, which raised expectations even higher for the Frenchman, who struggled to get started in his new spell at the Santiago Bernabéu, but once he did, he demonstrated his scoring ability with a double title that, after a Club World Cup to forget, he wants to repeat this season by going down in the history of the white team.
A season that went from less to more with a World Cup at half speed
Mbappé had a very inconsistent start to the season. He struggled to adapt and, with the expectations created and the demands of a team like Real Madrid, criticism was quick to follow. He struggled to find his place as he had to play as a pure striker without being one. He wasn’t in the right place when the team looked for him, he missed goals that should have been easy for a player of his quality… and the alarm bells started ringing. However, little by little, things started to improve until reaching their peak in the final months of the competition. The Frenchman kept the team going during a difficult month of March, and from then on, the club enjoyed a run of goals in almost every game, which led him to be crowned top scorer and winner of the Golden Boot.
With those two titles under his belt, expectations for the Club World Cup under Xabi Alonso were sky high. However, it all came to an end before it even began. Mbappé was already feeling unwell before taking off for the United States, where he developed a fever and acute gastroenteritis that did not subside, leading to his hospitalization on the night of Wednesday, June 18.
The illness prevented him from playing a single game in the group stage. He made a brief reappearance against Juventus, where he looked somewhat lost on the pitch. In addition to his physical decline, the team has been playing differently since the arrival of Xabi Alonso, and he did not have time to assimilate new concepts. He improved against Borussia, where he scored a spectacular goal, but he continued to raise doubts. This was evident against PSG, where his partnership with Vinicius was once again exposed.
Pichichi and Golden Boot
As we said, before the fateful Club World Cup, the Frenchman ended the season with 44 goals to his name, spread across each of the seven official competitions played by the club: La Liga (31), Champions League (7), Copa del Rey (2), Spanish Super Cup (1),
European Super Cup (1), Intercontinental Cup (1) and Club World Cup (1). This goal tally saw him finish as LaLiga’s top scorer and win the Golden Boot after a fierce battle with Gyokeres that went down to the wire.
A challenge that Cristiano did not achieve
A great end to a first year that turned out to be the best scoring debut in Real Madrid’s history. A milestone for the Whites that Mbappé now wants to complete by going for the LaLiga top scorer title for the second consecutive year, something that few have achieved. Legends such as Cristiano and Benzema failed to be the top scorer in the domestic competition for two consecutive seasons. In the history of the Merengue team, only three players have won the LaLiga Pichichi two years in a row: Alfredo Di Stéfano (1956 and 1957), Ferenc Puskás (1960 and 1961) and Hugo Sánchez (1986, 1987 and 1988).
Frenzy for Mbappé’s number 10
The Frenchman will take on this challenge with the number 10 on his back. Since Luka Modric left Real Madrid after the Club World Cup, there has been debate about who should inherit the number 10 shirt. The club offered it to him… and Kylian accepted. “10,” the Frenchman posted on his X account, confirming the news. The number of shirts sold with his name on them has always been high, but since the change was announced and the new shirt went on sale, it has been a total sales sensation.