Joining Real Madrid, Kylian Mbappe Saves La Liga's Pamor

Kylian Mbappe reappointed the Spanish La Liga prestige when recruited by Real Madrid. (Instagram @k.mbappe)

JAKARTA - La Liga president Javier Tebas welcomed Real Madrid with joy when he recruited Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe. Mbappe's joining Madrid clearly saved La Liga's prestige.

Ya, La Liga sudah kalah pamor dengan Liga Inggris. Meski hanya ada Erling Haaland di Manchester City, Liga Inggris memiliki daya pengaik luar biasa.

The reason is, not only one or two teams are competing for the league title. Competition can involve three or four teams.

Not only that, the Premier League teams have successfully attracted a number of top managers. Apart from Pep Guardiola, who wrote Man City, Mikel Arteta at Arsenal, Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool), Mauricio Pochettino (Chelsea), and Erik ten Hag (Manchester United).

The latest news is that Thomas Tuchel, who will leave Bayern Munich at the end of this season, also wants to return to the Premier League.

Meanwhile, La Liga only has a top and popular coach, Carlo Ancelotti, who handles Madrid. In addition, Xavi Hernandez has coached Barcelona until the end of this season.

La Liga has also dimmed since losing Neymar, Cristian Ronaldo, and finally Lionel Messi. This elite Spanish competition is indeed excited again with the presence of Jude Bellingham who joined Madrid this season.

However, according to Tebas, if Madrid also succeed in bringing in Mbappe, then La Liga will shine again.

"Of course this is good news for Madrid and Spanish football (with Mbappe recruitment). He is one of the best players in the world," Tebas was quoted as saying by 90Min.

"In my view, for now, Bellingham, Haaland, and Mbappe are the three most dominant players on the planet. Two of them will be in Madrid," said Tebas again.

"Presiden Madrid Florentino Perez memang tak pernah berbicara dengan saya selama tiga tahun terakhir. Namun, saya menyambut bahagia saat mendengar mereka merekrut Mbappe."

"Through this interview, I would like to convey that I am happy Madrid are doing this recruitment."

According to Tebas, Mbappe's presence means a lot because La Liga will again have players with big names. Especially after Messi et al's departure.

"Even though it's not the main thing, it would be better if there are big names in the league. Top coaches like (Jose) Mourinho and Guardiola can indeed be useful."

"However, the problem is that players like Ronaldo, Neymar, or Messi have also left. Now, Mbappe will help us in the years to strengthen what we have been working on," said Tebas.

"It's just that, I don't know if Madrid has (officially) recruited him. However, by knowing he will leave PSG, then 99% Mbappe will go to Madrid," he said.

Tebas also defended Madrid's recruitment. Even though he had to give Mbappe a very high salary, Tebas ensured that Los Merengues' finances were very supportive of paying high-cost players.

In fact, Tebas believes Madrid does not need to sell star players to cover the costs of recruiting the French national team captain.

"Madrid is a club with optimal economic conditions. The performance of the club president and manager is very good. It's just that, they even make it dizzy because they want to create a new competition (The European Super League)," said Tebas.

"Economically, they are very responsive. In fact, they can use more than the current funds. Real Madrid is very good in financial condition. So, the club is ready to recruit Mbappe. They don't have to sell players to pay Mbappe," he replied.

Despite getting Mbappe for free, Madrid still has to spend a lot of money.

With a five-year contract that is reportedly signed by Mbappe, the club will pay 15 million euros or approximately 253 billion rupiahs annually. The bonus also reaches 150 million euros or 2.5 trillion rupiahs.