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Mbappe signs five-year deal with Real Madrid
Kylian Mbappe has signed a five-year deal to move to Real Madrid from Paris Saint-Germain, the Spanish club announced on Monday.
The announcement is the culmination of Real's long courtship of one of the most prolific forwards in world football.
"Real Madrid have reached an agreement for the player to be at Real Madrid for the next five seasons," the club said in a statement.
Mbappe, 25, said on social media the move was "a dream come true".
"So happy and proud to join the club of my dream @realmadrid. Nobody can understand how excited I am right now. Can't wait to see you, Madridistas, and thanks for your unbelievable support," Mbappe added.
He will earn 35 million euros ($38 million) a season, according to reports in Spain.
Mbappe had verbally agreed to move to Real in February and then announced in May he would leave PSG at the end of the season.
Real, fresh from winning their 15th Champions League on Saturday with a 2-0 victory against Borussia Dortmund, moved to confirm the deal on Monday before Mbappe is involved in pre-Euro 2024 friendlies for France.
A World Cup winner as a teenager in 2018, Mbappe scored a club record 256 goals for PSG since joining the Qatar-owned club from Monaco on an initial loan in 2017.
He eventually moved to PSG in a 180-million-euro ($195 million) deal -- all at the age of 18.
Mbappe helped PSG to six Ligue 1 titles and steered them to the 2020 Champions League final, but they lost to Bayern Munich.
He scored a hat-trick in the World Cup final against Argentina in Qatar in 2022 but still finished on the losing side as Lionel Messi's Argentina won on penalties.
PSG lavished huge sums to put Mbappe, Brazil star Neymar and Messi in the same team, hoping to finally unlock the Champions League puzzle. But the French club came up short.
As Mbappe's fame has grown, so has his importance to both the French national team and France the country.
President Emmanuel Macron intervened to persuade him to stay at PSG in June 2022 when a move to Real seemed almost cut and dried.
At Real, who also won back the La Liga title from fierce rivals Barcelona this season, Mbappe will form a formidable attacking trio with Brazilian forward Vinicius Jr and England international midfielder Jude Bellingham.
H. Müller--BTZ
