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Any similarity is purely coincidental…(©AFP)
The Frenchman’s unveiling at Santiago Bernabeu had several similarities to Cristiano’s from 15 years ago
When Kylian Mbappe made a breakthrough, everyone was sure he would be the next fantastic thing in football. Of course, comparisons to Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi were always intriguing, but the Frenchman’s playing style differed from the two legends’ – it was unique.
However, after deciding to join Real Madrid, many declared he would be the first true successor of CR7 at Real Madrid. Florentino Perez has been trying to find a decent replacement for the Portuguese for years but without result. Much was expected of Eden Hazard when he joined Los Blancos in 2019, but his spell in Spain was terrible.
Vinicius Junior is on the right path, but he arrived in Madrid as an 18-year-old teenager, while Cristiano had already made a name for himself at Man United before moving to Real. However, just one day after Mbappe‘s unveiling, many people are sure that various similarities to Ronaldo‘s “welcome party” at Santiago Bernabeu from 15 years ago are not a coincidence and are signs that Los Blancos finally found the Portuguese’s successor.
First, the number of people who welcomed both players is almost the same – around 80.000. Some sources claim that Mbappe drew a few thousand more, but it’s trivial. Furthermore, certain gestures and phrases the 25-year-old used in his speech strongly reminded everyone of Ronaldo, especially the countdown and the shout Hala Madrid!
He’s finally arrived! The royal reception for Mbappe showed Real’s power!
Finally, both players have worn No. 7 throughout their careers (Ronaldo even made a nickname of it), except for their beginnings when current Al-Nassr player wore No. 28 at Sporting Lisbon, while Mbappe wore No. 29 at Monaco. Nevertheless, when the Portuguese arrived, Real’s legendary forward Raul was still there, wearing CR‘s favourite number. Hence, he had to take No. 9. A year later, when Raul moved to Schalke, Ronaldo took over the number.
The situation is the same with Mbappe and Vinicius. The Brazilian currently owns the “7”, while the Frenchman had to settle for the “9”. Nevertheless, the expectations are enormous, just like they were 15 years ago. In Ronaldo‘s case, it was completely justified, given that his time at Real was one of the Madrid giant’s greatest eras in history. All these “coincidences” got Los Blancos’ fans’ hopes up. A well-known proverb says a good beginning makes a good end. In the case of Mbappe, time will tell.
