Real Madrid ended with months of speculation by finally announcing the signing of Kylian Mbappe on Monday. The Frenchman also made it official on his social media profiles, with even Cristiano Ronaldo reacting to the news.
While the Portuguese starâs comment on Mbappeâs Instagram post â in which the 25-year-old shared a picture of him as a kid next to CR7 â proves Kylian has Cristianoâs blessing, it looks like the former PSG star is also planning to emulate the 5x Ballon dâOr winner with his first jersey number at the Santiago Bernabeu.
According to Le Parisien and Fabrizio Romano, Mbappe is expected to wear No. 9 in his first season with Real Madrid. Curiously, thatâs the same jersey number Ronaldo donned in his first year at La Casa Blanca.
Mbappeâs Real Madrid shirt number situation echoes Ronaldoâs in 2009
Mbappe finds himself in a similar situation as Ronaldo did in 2009 when he joined Los Blancos from Manchester United for a then record-breaking âŹ94 million fee. Back then, Cristiano couldnât take No. 7 as it belonged to Real Madrid legend Raul Gonzalez.
Cristiano Ronaldo of Real celebrates his second and Real Madridâs third goal during the Marseille and Real Madrid UEFA Champions League Group C match at the Stade Velodrome on December 8, 2009 in Marseille, France.
In the French superstarâs case, No. 10 would make sense for him as thatâs the number he wears with Les Bleus, but the shirt looks off limits right now as club icon Luka Modric is expected to stay for another year.
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Therefore, just like Ronaldo did when Raul was still at the club, Mbappe will reportedly settle with No. 9 with Modric on the squad. Cristiano had to wait only one season to claim No. 7, and it could be the same for Kylian.
The 25-year-old comes from donning No. 7 at Paris Saint-Germain, but that number was taken by Vinicius Junior â another Ronaldo fan â last season. Mbappe will be looking to write his own history anyway, starting the same way Ronaldo did. Only time will tell us how it goes.
