Kylian Mbappe not the missing piece of the puzzle but will only make Real Madrid better

The worst kept secret in football is expected to be confirmed this week when Real Madrid unveil Kylian Mbappe as the latest star to join their galaxy.

The move, in which Mbappe, 25, will commit his future to Madrid for the next five years, could usher in a new dynasty for the European aristocrats still very much celebrating their latest crowning glory of a 15th European Cup.

Mbappe will officially join the Champions League winners on July 1, but an announcement is expected well before he joins up with the France national team ahead of Euro 2024, which begins on June 14.

The pursuit of Mbappe, a 2018 World Cup winner and 2022 finalist with Les Bleus, has been long and protracted, with Madrid biding their time after Paris Saint-Germain refused to countenance selling last summer.

For his part, Mbappe has made no secret of his desire to leave PSG when his current deal expires on June 30, and has welcomed Madrid's past advances.

When Mbappe signed for PSG from Monaco, initially on a season-long loan in 2017 before the switch was made permanent a year later, it made him the second most expensive player in history after the Parisians parted with £165.7 million to secure his services.

Over the past seven years, Mbappe has become the club's all-time leading scorer with 256 goals in 308 appearances that also includes a host of trophies including six Ligue 1 titles and numerous domestic cups.

But PSG's continued failure to land European football's biggest prize, and Real Madrid's penchant for winning it, made a move inevitable. PSG reached the Champions League final in 2020 but finished runners-up to Bayern Munich and lost in the last-four stage during the current campaign to Borussia Dortmund, who were beaten 2-0 by Real Madrid on