Even though Kylian Mbappe isn't in the good graces of many Madridistas after Real Madrid went without a trophy in his second season out of two, the Frenchman holds plenty of weight in the team and has a close relationship with Florentino Perez, who was obsessed with bringing him to the Santiago Bernabeu for years.
Despite Mbappe's issues with defending for the team and connecting with others, which were the same in Paris for years, Florentino is optimistic that Real Madrid can finally get Mbappe to click and win the Champions League at the world's most successful club. He also thinks Jose Mourinho is the right guy to unlock the best version of Mbappe.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid are working hard to upgrade the defense that sits behind Mbappe and the attack, perhaps to give them more room for error when they are not pressing. And Mbappe seems to have the exact player he wants Real Madrid to sign to boost the incoming Mourinho's back line.
Kylian Mbappe wants Real Madrid to get the hottest free agent
According to a report from Diario AS, via the Madrid Zone, Kylian Mbappe has made a personal recommendation to Real Madrid, requesting that Los Blancos go harder after his good friend and French national teammate Ibrahima Konate, who had previously been on Real's radar as a free agent signing before they cooled off interest.
And now, per AS, Real Madrid are seriously pushing harder for the former Liverpool star now that he is officially a free agent, perhaps galvanized by Mbappe's endorsement behind the scenes. Surely, Eduardo Camavinga and Aurelien Tchouameni also put in good words for the center back, whom they have frequently been spotted hanging out with.
Florentino Perez loves to sign his free agent center backs, and Konate is younger than Antonio Rudiger and David Alaba were when they signed their free agent deals with Real Madrid. Both Alaba and Rudiger were crucial in the 2021/22 and 2023/24 Champions League triumphs, respectively, but with age, they declined faster than their deals ran out.
So there is likely hope from the Madrid side that Ibrahima Konate can make a similar impact as David Alaba and Antonio Rudiger did upon signing as a free agent but can offer a few more years of success than them in central defense, given he is not yet even 28 years of age. Real's interest in Konate also subtly shows that, yes, Mbappe has weight to the organization.
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