Kylian Mbappe To Wear Jersey Number 9 For Real Madrid
Kylian Mbappe joins Real Madrid after the club won the La Liga and the UEFA Champions League last season.
- NDTV Sports Desk
- Updated: July 10, 2024 09:00 pm IST
Spanish giants Real Madrid on Wednesday confirmed that the French superstar Kylian Mbappe will wear jersey number 9 in his first season with the Los Blancos. Earlier in June, Real Madrid revealed the arrival of Mbappe in the club. The 25-year-old World Cup winner joined the Los Merengues after leaving Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). The French superstar will follow his idol Cristiano Ronaldo's footsteps who also wore the jersey number 9 after joining the Whites in 2009. Currently, Brazilian attacker Vinicius Junior is wearing the legendary number 7 jersey, which is why Mbappe has been given the number 9. Earlier, Karim Benzema wore the number 9 jersey and set many records for Los Blancos.
The 15-time UEFA Champions League (UCL) winner also confirmed that French midfielder Eduardo Camavinga will wear jersey number 6 and Uruguayan Fede Valverde will shift to jersey number 8, taking over from Toni Kroos. Defensive midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni will move to 14, a jersey worn previously by Xabi Alonso and Casemiro. Turkish youngster Arda Guler will wear the jersey with the number 15 on his back. Meanwhile, Spanish defender Jesus Vallejo will wear the number 18.
Changes with shirt numbers in the squad.#RealMadrid
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadriden) July 10, 2024
"Several Real Madrid players will change their jersey numbers at the start of the 2024/25 season. Camavinga, who until now wore the number 12, will change to 6. Valverde will change from 15 to 8 and Tchouameni will move from 18 to 14. Arda Guler, who wore the number 24 last season, will wear 15 and Vallejo will wear the number 18," Real Madrid stated.
"Real Madrid CF and Kylian Mbappe have reached an agreement under which he will become a Real Madrid player for the next five seasons," Real Madrid said in an official statement while announcing Mbappe's arrival in the club.
Mbappe joined PSG from AS Monaco in 2017, following that he has played 308 matches for the Paris club and scored 256 goals. The French striker was 19 years old when he left his childhood club for PSG. In the recently concluded season of the Ligue 1, the Frenchman appeared in 29 matches and got the back of the net 27 times. He also made 7 assists in the French league.
However, Mbappe never hid from accepting that his dream was to play for the 14-time UEFA Champions League (UCL) winner Real Madrid. For the last several years, Los Blancos have been trying to bring him to Madrid, but Mbappe wasn't keen on an exit before the expiration of his contract. In 2021, Real Madrid had gone all out to sign Mbappe, offering 220 million Euros. However, PSG turned it down.