‘YOU HAVE BEEN MBAPPE’D!’ - Real Madrid are a mess, the new Galacticos are the cause

Analysis

Paul Macdonald | Brand Owner

If you’re not a fan of Real Madrid, X for the past few weeks has been a glorious place to be. There has been a congregation of opposing fans collectively teeing up shots at the sheer dysfunction taking place.

Madrid’s transfer policy of late has harked back to the original Galacticos era of Florentino Perez in the early 2000s, when Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo and David Beckham were brought in in consecutive summers. People tend to remember the two Champions Leagues that came at the beginning of that spell, but they forget 2003-2006 when the team were so disjointed that they didn’t win a league title and it took six managers of various degrees of quality to try - and fail - to mould them into a team.

It reminds much of the current situation. This Real Madrid dressing room resembles a stereotypical girls bathroom at a high school in a teen TV show. Real Madrid’s Next Top Diva isn’t a competition - it’s definitely Kylian Mbappe - but the supporting cast are doing their level best to make faces behind the teacher’s back.

The rot set in when the club attempted to instill some discipline. Xabi Alonso was meant to be that guy. An impeccable managerial record with Leverkusen and not only that, a former player, and a brilliant one at that.

But as he departed in January rumours spread that Xabi deemed the dressing room ‘unmanageable’ and a patsy, Alvaro Arbeloa, was put in place. You’ve got to feel sorry for the substitute teacher in this scenario; Arbeloa has been handed a box of fireworks with the wicks already lit. The fact is that Real Madrid last won back-to-back La Liga titles in 1989/90 - 36 years ago. An implosion is simply never too far away.

But this time the rot permeates throughout the organisation; Madrid were forced to embarrassingly backtrack after claims that Mbappe’s wrong leg had been subjected to an MRI and they had missed a serious knee problem. Rumours that the Medical Department will be completely replaced this summer abound, and that a pre-season tour will be cancelled.

Much of this might be containable if the behaviour of some of the players was in any way respectful. Enter Mbappe, who has been subject to more memes than Donald Trump over the past month.

‘You have been Mbappe’d!’ reads one, in reference to how both PSG have been better and Madrid markedly worse since his arrival in Spain. Against Betis at the weekend he signalled that he wanted to be substituted as the game carried on around him; one fan even took the time to make a painful seven-minute montage of Mbappe’s poor touches during the match.

Así celebró @KMbappe sus 100 partidos con la camiseta de Real Madrid.

Te apuesto, que no creerías que se pudiera hacer un video de 7 minutos, de la vergüenza de partido que hizo Mbappé en 82 minutos.

Pues el bueno de @ciudadano95 lo ha logrado.

80 millones le pagamos. pic.twitter.com/ZmK1bYBC8z

— Ciudadano del Real Madrid CF (@Ciudadanodel_RM) April 25, 2026

Elsewhere there’s an uncomfortable number of videos where Vini Jr will either run down blind alleys or just flat refuse to pass the ball to Mbappe (and vice versa). The clips are beyond bizarre; the match looks as if it’s simply taking place in the background and these two don’t even know they are on the same team.

And of course Mbappe - currently injured for what looks like the remainder of a dead season - has so many detractors, one clip even accuses him of connecting to an X Spaces in order to defend… well, himself. It’s probably a load of rubbish. But it fits the current narrative.

Elsewhere, no-one is safe. 18-year-old Thiago Pitarch’s compilations are merely him giving the ball away, usually in extremely dangerous situations. That he is one of their own hardly seems to matter. Captain Dani Carvajal was caught on camera gesturing about Trent Alexander-Arnold’s light jog back when Betis were on the counter. Andriy Lunin has copped flak for simply being Andriy Lunin and not Thibaut Courtois. Elsewhere, it’s been suggested that Jude Bellingham and Mbappe are oil and water, with the former one of the few willing to call out Mbappe on his various mistakes. This is accompanied by a montage of Bellingham, frustrated, as he watches Mbappe time and time again fail to deliver a cross. These storylines would be enough to keep most soap operas going for a decade; most of this has happened in the turn of the year.

And so what to do about it? It seems like a pivotal moment, not least in terms of who has to herd this entitled bunch. Didier Deschamps is leaving France after the World Cup. But would that simply hand Mbappe unlimited power, given their relationship? Jurgen Klopp is being linked with a return to management. Andoni Iraola seems to be considering Chelsea, for reasons that are unclear. Even Mauricio Pochettino is in the mix, but much of his stock is from years ago and his CV has not been good enough of late to handle this dressing room.

And then you have the squad itself. Fractured, defiant, broken. Antonio Rudiger, Dani Carvajal and David Alaba’s contracts end in June; the big one is Vinicius Jr in 2027. Still in negotiations over a new deal, yet the concerns that everyone had when Mbappe joined - that the two couldn’t play together - have largely borne out.

Will Madrid push the boat out for him when this is now Mbappe’s club, whether anyone likes it or not? Arguably Madrid’s best performance of the season - the 3-0 defeat of Manchester City - happened without Mbappe. The Frenchman is contracted until 2029, on an eye-watering sum of money. They chose to build the team around him, for better or worse, and it will be that way for another two years, at least.

So while the memes are rampant, Mbappe is intrinsically tied to the success - or failure - or Real Madrid, whether he likes it or not.

The FootballTransfers app

Check out FootballTransfers' new app for all of football's big storylines, transfer rumours and exclusive news in one convenient place directly on your mobile device.

The FootballTransfers app is available in the Apple App Store. Download here:

•App Store

Written by

Paul Macdonald | Brand Owner

Paul Macdonald is a writer, journalist, editor and co-founder of the FootballTransfers website.

View full bio