♦ Mbappe will arrive at Real Madrid this summer after dizzying transfer saga
♦ Los Blancos already boast world-class stars like Valverde, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham
♦ Uruguay international claims Madrid ‘have the best team in the world’
Mbappe and Valverde will soon be teammates at Madrid / JAVIER SORIANO/GettyImages
Federico Valverde has admitted it is going to be “crazy” playing with Kylian Mbappe at Real Madrid after the France captain’s long-awaited transfer was finally confirmed.
Mbappe will join a ridiculously stacked Blancos squad on a free transfer this summer having previously announced his plan to leave Paris Saint-Germain at the end of his contract.
Carlo Ancelotti’s squad secured a La Liga and Champions League double with starring contributions from attackers Vinicius Junior, Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo but Mbappe will add a new level of ruthlessness to their forward line. With hard-working midfielders behind them like Valverde, Eduardo Camavinga, Aurelien Tchouameni and stalwart Luka Modric, the platform is set for Madrid to dominate Spanish and European football for the coming years.
Appearing on The Residency, Valverde was asked about the prospect of the former PSG forward’s arrival and couldn’t hide his excitement.
He said: “It’s going to be crazy, we have the best team in the world.”
Madrid showed their dominance in Spain with 29 victories from their 38 La Liga games, losing just once all season, and eliminated continental giants Manchester City and Bayern Munich before beating Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League final last month.
Both Valverde and Mbappe are currently on international duty for their respective nations.
Real Madrid won a 15th Champions League last season / Anadolu/GettyImage
Valverde is one of Uruguay’s leading figures for their Copa America charge, with their first game coming against Panama in the early hours of Monday morning.
Mbappe, meanwhile, suffered a broken nose during France’s 1-0 victory over Austria at Euro 2024 and his participation in their next group stage match against the Netherlands on Friday night is in doubt.
The Real Madrid forward will wear a mask on his face for the remainder of the tournament but Les Bleus manager Didier Deschamps gave an encouraging update regarding his potential availability against the Dutch.
He said: “Everything is going in the right direction after this major shock with the consequences. Yesterday he went out, he did a little activity. This will also be the case this evening. Things are moving in the right direction to ensure that he is available tomorrow.”