Kylian Mbappe: Simulating his Real Madrid career in FM24

“The more difficult the victory, the greater the happiness in winning.”

This quote is attributed to football legend Pele, who proclaimed that tougher obstacles produce greater feelings of joy. With Kylian Mbappe joining an already-stacked Real Madrid side, it may be time to rethink that saying.

But will Real’s new-look team be as good as advertised on paper and win an abundance of trophies with ease now they’ve recruited one of the world’s best forwards? There is only one way to find out: by loading up Football Manager 2024 and running a bunch of experiments in the interest of producing serious, accurate and reliable journalism.

We simulated Mbappe’s entire career at Real Madrid, which lasted 11 seasons, in FM24 to see how things might play out. Here are the results.

Season one: A first league title but European misery

A domestic double looks nice on paper and ticks a bunch of boxes, but considering the strength of Real Madrid’s new-look side, there is an unwritten expectation that this team should be winning the treble more seasons than not.

Real Madrid won the league by 17 points, but they did not blow away their opposition in Europe, losing to RB Leipzig in the round of 16 in the Champions League.

It was a fun start to a new Galactico era. Mbappe played up front, rather than on the left, and he won trophies, but an early exit in Europe had doubters lining up by the droves to criticise his decision to leave Paris.

Season two: Real lose the ultimate Clasico

For Mbappe, it is heartbreaking. For the neutral, it is probably the outcome they wanted most in the interest of keeping a healthy competitive balance. With a domestic double once again secured, this time round, Real made the Champions League final and came up against their biggest rivals, Barcelona — and lost 2-0.

They also lost the Club World Cup final to Manchester City, so they could not even call themselves “world champions”. Once again, they were close, but no cigar.

Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo both scored more league goals than Mbappe, whose total of 25 across all competitions was one less than the aforementioned duo.

Real’s transfer outlay was modest, with only £20million spent on Kalidou Koulibaly (£15million), Renato Sanches (£2.5million) and Angelino (£2.5million). Given the depth of their squad, oddly enough, not many people were quick to offer sympathy towards their lack of spending.

Season three: Mbappe is joined by… Arnaut Danjuma

With Carlo Ancelotti still in charge, the expectations placed upon the Italian manager were rising in Spain’s capital. Mbappe alternated between playing up front and also as a left-winger, but his team regressed.

For the past two years, they won the league, Copa del Rey and Spanish Super Cup. In season three, they “only” won La Liga, albeit by 13 points. It is fair to wonder if they could have achieved the same results without Mbappe.

Some of their transfer moves were questionable, too. Real spent £45million on Arnaut Danjuma, but he only made one start in the league all season. Leon Goretzka, who at this point is 31 years old, started plenty of games but did not post an average rating above 7/10, which is considered the benchmark for a good performance in FM24.

Three seasons in, Real Madrid are undoubtedly a domestic force, winning three La Liga titles in a row for the first time since Barcelona achieved the feat between 2008 and 2011. But in Europe, it was an Erling Haaland-led Manchester City side who reigned supreme, with Pep Guardiola’s side making it two Champions League wins in three seasons.

Season four: Real’s Spanish dominance continues

Another year, another easy title victory. Real have clearly proven to be the best team in Spain so far during this experiment. They finished 14 points ahead of Barcelona in second place, which follows on from previous point differentials of 17, 13 and 13 respectively.

Given they have established themselves as the dominant force in Spain, we will give them some leeway for yet another campaign with no Champions League triumph. Would they care for my leeway in real life? I am guessing not, but I am going to excuse their continental failures regardless.

Mbappe had another decent season. He once again outperformed his xG by around 10 goals and provided a modest return of 15 league goals.

Their only notable additions to their starting line-up are Borussia Dortmund full-back Julian Ryerson and Chelsea’s Benoit Badiashile. For what it is worth, Ancelotti is still the manager. Is he the reason they have not yet won another European trophy since signing Mbappe? Only time will tell.

Season five: A golden boot but no trophies

The wheels are starting to fall off. For the first time in five seasons, Real Madrid did not win a single trophy.

Another mediocre display in the Champions League, coupled with Barcelona finally ending their domestic dominance, left the club in a tricky position.

Mbappe did, however, reach a personal milestone. He finished joint-top scorer in La Liga alongside former Coventry striker Viktor Gyokeres, but that is a small consolation in an otherwise disappointing season.

The club’s transfer strategy left a lot to be desired, too. The headline additions were Crystal Palace’s Tyrick Mitchell and Joe Gomez, who at this point played for PSG but moved to Spain’s capital and did not feature much.

Season six: Mbappe’s contract winds down

Six seasons into this experiment and still no Champions League victory in sight. Real exited the tournament at the quarter-final stage against Bayern Munich. They won the Club World Cup, which put a band-aid over an increasingly large and gaping continental-sized wound.

If Mbappe went six seasons without any success in Europe, people would have plenty of questions. They did win the league again, so it was not all bad.

Mbappe chipped in with 30 goal contributions in all competitions, but his team’s inability to get over the final hurdle in Europe meant a lot of those goals he scored in the early rounds of the Copa del Rey were far less significant.

Continuing with their theme of signing random Premier League players, Real signed Ibrahima Konate for £58million alongside two regenerated players, bringing their total outlay for the season to £119million. Mbappe is now 30, entering the final year of his deal and Ancelotti has retired. The clock is ticking.

Season seven: Champions League heartbreak

The stage was set for one of the most Hollywood-style endings to a season in recent memory. Jurgen Klopp took charge of Real Madrid and their final fixture of the season was the Champions League final. Their opponents? Liverpool.

If they won, it would complete a historic treble, having already won the league and Copa del Rey. So what did they do? They lost 3-1.

A return of 19 goals in all competitions seems a little low, but Mbappe did miss a chunk of time with injury, including the Champions League. Outside of that, Real’s domestic dominance continued, so it was not all bad.

They spent £191million on new players, with £95million of that going on French goalkeeper Guillaume Restes, with the other £96million spent on made-up, regenerated players. Mbappe extended his deal by an extra year, but there was a lot of uncertainty heading into year eight.

Season eight: Mbappe misses from the spot… but European glory arrives

Not to be deterred by a painful defeat against Liverpool, Real once again made it to the Champions League and faced Manchester City, who were managed by Unai Emery at this point in the experiment. They won the league by 20 points, which was their seventh title in the last eight seasons and also won the Copa del Rey.

The treble was right there for the taking — and they took it, beating City 2-1, with Mbappe missing a penalty that ultimately did not prove too costly.

It took them eight years but they finally did it. Mbappe did not exactly cover himself in glory during Real’s European exploits — he only scored twice and missed a penalty in the final. In La Liga, he was the second-highest scorer. He alternated between playing on the left and up front and produced solid numbers: 27 goals and 16 assists for the season.

He has not yet won the Ballon d’Or but did extend his contract by another year, so there is still time.

Season nine: Mbappe’s importance to Real wanes

It was worth the wait. After going seven seasons without a Champions League title, Real now had two in two years, but Mbappe, who was now in the “father time” period of his career at 33 years old, did not play a large role in winning the double.

He missed three months of the season with injury and also was not fit for the final against Manchester City. He once again extended his contract, but his importance was declining, with regenerated player Daniel Kuche now the star of the team.

Yet Real’s central midfield trio of Bellingham, Camavinga and Tchouameni aged like a fine wine. That base in the centre of the park is the bedrock of this trophy-laden run, with Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo and Mbappe doing their bit, too.

For anyone wondering how Endrick, one of the best wonderkids in FM23, was getting on, the Brazilian had only scored 32 league goals in eight seasons in Madrid.

Season 10: Mbappe turns down the Saudi Pro League

There was to be no three-peat as Real were knocked out of the Champions League by Manchester City in the semi-finals in Mbappe’s 10th season at the club. They won the league once again, as well as the Club World Cup and Copa del Rey.

Mbappe had interest from clubs in Saudi Arabia but ultimately chose to extend his deal by another year — therefore extending my time monitoring this simulation. I was hoping he would accept that big payday from Al Ittihad, but instead, I had to make my sixth iced coffee of the day and soldier on.

Vinicius Jr won the Ballon d’Or for the second year in a row and 34-year-old Trent Alexander-Arnold has just signed for Real on a free transfer.

Season 11: The end

Despite having another year left on his contract, Mbappe decided to hang up his boots in July 2034.

Real Madrid coasted to yet another league title but Mbappe played a very small part in that. He only started nine games in the league and was largely an afterthought as Real won La Liga.

His final year in Madrid was understandably quiet, given he was now 35 years old and way past his prime.

Conclusions

Mbappe was an important piece in the jigsaw, but history will remember Vinicius Jr as the unquestioned leader of Real Madrid’s dominant run across these 11 seasons.

The Brazilian won the Ballon d’Or twice and Bellingham won it once. Mbappe managed a third-placed finish in 2031, but if two of your team-mates were crowned as the world’s best player, it is hard to argue that you were the driving force of that dynasty.

But he was still important. Mbappe, who was used as a centre-forward more often than he was a left-winger, played a significant role in helping Real Madrid to render the competitiveness of La Liga to that of Ligue 1, where one team (PSG) reigns supreme every year.

In total, Mbappe won 25 trophies in Madrid and won 10 out of 11 league titles on offer. They won the league by an average margin of 13.6 points during that time, too.

A return of only two Champions League titles could be improved upon, with both of those victories happening after Mbappe had turned 30, but his team’s domestic performance was so strong that even his fiercest critics may overlook that. His individual numbers were impressive, too.

Mbappe was never the league’s top scorer, but a return of 34 goal contributions per season on average is a healthy return and undoubtedly helped Real Madrid become historically dominant in La Liga but less so in Europe.

Manchester City, led by Erling Haaland, managed four Champions League victories and eight Premier League titles during this experiment. They were the most dominant team in the entire world.

Real Madrid spent years trying to sign Mbappe. They finally got him and he ended his career in this painstaking 11-season FM24 simulation with two Champions League titles but no Ballon d’Or win. Was it worth it? Casual football fans may say no, but the brand responsible for producing those eight tubs of instant coffee I got through would say otherwise.

(Top photo: Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images)