Mbappe wins his first fight with Real Madrid

Robin Bairner

• 17 Jun 2024 08:00 CDT
• 4 min read

Kylian Mbappe will join Real Madrid on 1 July once his PSG contract expires, but he has already had something of a mini-battle with the Bernabeu side, reports in Spain report.

Relevo has disclosed details of how contract negotiations between the France star and Los Blancos were difficult.

It was not wages, however, that were complicated in this deal. Instead, there was a battle over Mbappe’s image rights.

READ MORE: €100m Real Madrid deal ON as father CONFIRMS star’s future

Current ETV

Kylian Mbappé

F (CL), AM (L)

PSG

Kylian Mbappé

F (CL), AM (L)

PSG

€154.6M

ETV Range

€116M - €193.3M

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Real Madrid have a policy whereby they split these 50/50 with their players, yet they have had to buckle over this stance with Mbappe, who is used to controlling where his face appears in public.

For example, he went on strike from France PR duties previously over the possibility that the national team could use his image to advertise fast food or bookmakers.

Mbappe will not hold sole control of his image rights at Real Madrid, with the report from Spain indicating that he will control around 60-70% of these.

But the former Monaco player is not an exception in this regard. Both Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Junior control slightly more than 50% of their rights, yet Mbappe proved to be a harder negotiator than this duo and will have more control of his image.

READ MORE: Why are Real Madrid not selling Kylian Mbappe shirts?

Mbappe’s political stance

Mbappe, meanwhile, has supported France teammate Marcus Thuram in expressing his concern over the rise in the right wing Rassemblement National party ahead of the general election at the end of the month.

"I share the same values as Marcus," Mbappe, France's captain, said. "Of course I support him. For me, he hasn't gone too far. It's freedom of speech, and I'm on his side.

"We [the France team] are citizens, we cannot be disconnected from the world around us. We know that we are in an important situation for our country, an unprecedented situation. I want to address the French people. The extremes are at the gates of power, we have the opportunity to choose the future of our country.

"I call on all young people to go and vote, to understand the gravity of the situation. I hope that my voice resonates as far as possible. I hope we will still be proud to wear this jersey on 7 July ."