Kylian Mbappe turning point in Real Madrid season revealed amid UEFA Champions League tilt - 'It freed him'
By Jonny Bray
Updated 29/01/2025 at 13:29 GMT
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Kylian Mbappe joined Real Madrid from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer, but is only now on the right track to living up to his potential after "maybe taking for granted" that he would settle at the club, in the opinion of Julien Laurens. Madrid face Brest in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday's final league phase matchday, live on TNT Sports and discovery+.
Mbappe integration at Real Madrid explained - 'He maybe took it for granted'
Video credit: TNT Sports
Kylian Mbappe did not realise how difficult it would be to integrate into Real Madrid's star-studded squad following his move from Paris Saint-Germain, French journalist Julien Laurens has suggested.
The 26-year-old forward initially struggled to adapt to life at the Bernabeu, as he sought to fit in to the club's attacking unit of Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo and Jude Bellingham.
However, Madrid - like their star forward - have battled back from a slow start to the campaign to go four points clear at the top of La Liga and cement their place in the play-off stages of the UEFA Champions League, ahead of taking on Brest on matchday eight, live on TNT Sports and discovery+.
"I think there are a few things that can maybe explain why Kylian started slowly or was disappointing at the start of his Real Madrid season," Laurens told TNT Sports.
"The first one is that he did not really, I think, realise the pressure that would be on him to now be the No. 9 at the greatest club in the world and all the expectations that would come with him arriving at Real Madrid.
"I think he maybe took a little bit for granted, thinking that he would come into that team.
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"It was a great team that won the Champions League last season and the league as well, and he thought it would just fit in nicely and perfectly and that everything would be fine from the beginning - he would score a lot of goals, everything would click and everybody would get on.
"I think maybe they realised that it would not be the case straight away and that it would take a lot of effort and a bit of time from him, more than he anticipated or thought about initially to get there.
"It took a lot of discussions between him, his family and his entourage to make him realise that he had to do more and understand mentally that it was not just going to click like this."
Laurens identified what he considers to be the turning point of Mbappe's integration.
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"The fact that he spoke to a French TV show two months ago freed him a bit," Laurens continued.
"After that, he was a different player. To talk about about everything that went wrong at the start of the season really helped him to process things.
"After that, it was the game against Atalanta where he scored a lovely goal, got slightly injured and had to come off, but I felt that was the turning point in his season."
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Mbappe arrived in Madrid speaking fluent Spanish, a factor that was expected to help his assimilation to life in Spain. Laurens says, however, that it acted as a double-edged sword.
"In a way, the best and the worst thing for Mbappe is that his Spanish was already perfect when he arrived," Laurens said.
"It felt like him speaking Spanish would just mean integration would be immediate. No need to settle in, no need for a bit of time to adapt to a new life, a new country, a new culture, a new league, a new team, et cetera.
"We often say about players going to a new country in a big transfer that the language is a bit of a barrier, so he will need to learn the language and then, once he knows the language and has learned a little bit about the city, he will integrate himself better.
"But because Kylian spoke almost perfect Spanish already when he arrived in Madrid, maybe he, his family and all of us on the outside thought there would be no need for him to have time to integrate.
"I actually don't think it was that simple, despite speaking the language, you need to get to know your new team-mates and get to know the city.
"Going to Madrid is very different - you are not the leader in that dressing room anymore, this is not your club."
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Mappe has scored 22 times in all competitions so far this season, including a hat-trick in his most recent La Liga match as he continues to improve in his debut campaign in Spain.
With Madrid beginning to purr ominously in the second half of the season, Laurens also made a prediction around not just Mbappe individually, but also Los Blancos' European chances.
"One player - because it's Kylian - can change everything," Laurens said. "The most difficult thing was to integrate Mbappe fully into what Real Madrid and Carlo Ancelotti wanted to do.
"Now that that's the case, I think we will see a better Vinicius, we will see a better Bellingham. Bellingham can play a bit closer to Mbappe to even be better and get better. I think we'll see a better Rodrygo.
"There are still issues about balance in that team, especially when they don't have the ball defensively, that have to be sorted.
"But I think we will see a much better version of them in the second half of the season, especially in the Champions League, because really have they have everything to be more of a cup team than a league team.
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"They have a big chance to win La Liga, but I think with all that talent and how pragmatic they can all be on their day, they can beat anybody home and away, and that's why you tip them still to win the Champions League ahead of anybody else.
"The hardest part of that was to get Kylian hitting the ground running and really performing, and then the others will follow.
"I'm convinced that Kylian will score 40 goals or more in all competitions this season, and that everybody's going to follow in his footsteps."
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