A glimpse of the past – Real Madrid will wear the French Emperor Kylian Mbappé’s jersey. The first was Raymond Koppa

French striker Kylian Mbappé, the 2018 World Champion, has agreed a deal with the famous Real Madrid and will leave Paris Saint-Germain for free in the summer when his contract expires. The 23-year-old star will earn 50 million euros per year (about 1.2 billion crowns) in the Spanish capital. French stars in the jersey of the white ballet are not exceptional. The first was Raymond Kopa in 1956.

French footballing greats in a Real Madrid jersey, it goes hand in hand. Today, canonist Karim Benzema is already among the legends – he and upcoming reinforcement Kylian Mbappé are set to form a cosmic duo, and not so long ago another 2018 world champion, stopper Raphaël Varane (now Manchester United), played at the royal club.

Another French nobleman, Zinedine Zidane, also had memorable years – as a player and later as a coach – at Real Madrid, lifting the Champions League winners’ trophy over his head once as a player and three times as a coach. Although his greatest achievements – World Cup and Ballon d’Or champion 1998, European champion 2000 – are tied to his involvement with Juventus Turin of Italy (1996-2001).

However, the first French star to polish Madrid’s ‘galácticos’ was the son of a Polish miner, Raymond Kopa (formerly Kopaszewski).

In the first historic final of the newly formed European Champions Cup competition in 1956, Spanish champion Real Madrid faced French side Stade Reims, and the underrated rivals were handily beaten 3-4 at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris. The creative midfielder Kopa was the leading figure of the defeated finalists.

The management of Real Madrid, which had built one of its star selections of ‘galácticos’ in the 1950s, was well aware of the French musketeer and had offered him a contract with an incredible salary the year before. They managed to persuade him after the finals, he joined the glittering ensemble alongside Di Stéfano and Gent.

“I welcome little Napoleon,” was the historic line uttered by coach José Villalonga. Kopa, who was called Kopita (or Petit Napoleon) for his smaller stature (168 cm) in addition to the aforementioned nickname Pequeño Napoleon, not only matched but surpassed the famous figures.

In 1958, he won the Golden Ball of the best footballer in Europe (the French national team’s bronze medal performance at the World Cup in Sweden played a big part in his decoration), thus slipping between the two laurels of the phenomenal Argentine player Alfredo Di Stéfano.

In the following seasons, Real Madrid had several French emperors. Kylian Mbappé would be the next in line.