Is the Mbappé Situation the new “Figo Affair”?
It all started with a lie.
163 matches; 38 goals; one Champions League; one Intercontinental Cup; one European Super Cup; two Ligas; two Spanish Super Cups; one FIFA World Player; and one Ballon d’Or. This is what the Portuguese midfielder Luis Figo achieved during five years he played for Real Madrid.
Had Paulo Futre told the truth, none of this would have happened. He was one of the commissioners of the operation along with Figo’s manager José Veiga.
After one phone conversation between Futre and Veiga, Futre assured Perez that Figo would be a Real Madrid player.
But Veiga only green lit the transfer during a second call with Futre, when Futre put a six million euro commission on the table.
Veiga went a step further signing a preliminary contract with Florentino Pérez. If the operation failed, Veiga would have to pay 30 million euros.
The role and the use of the Spanish press during the negotiations of the operation was key. Both Real Madrid and Barcelona used the press as a tool to send messages between the clubs, the world and the clubs’ members who decide the president.
Marca, a supporter of Real Madrid, was the first to print on the front page that Pérez would sign Figo if he won the election.
At the same time, Sport, the Barça supporting newspaper, was publishing information about Figo staying at the Camp Nou. Marca, Real Madrid’s mouthpiece, refused to let the story go. Both clubs’ presidents added fuel to the already volatile discourse.
In an effort to regain control of the narrative, and cut through the speculation, Figo sat down with Sport for an exclusive interview.
“I’ll only play for Barça,” he said.
Just another lie.
This is part of the documentary composed by Netflix in The Figo Affair: The Transfer that Changed Football. This operation settled a precedent in the football business in the past.
But have we learned anything from the past or are we just repeating the same mistake?
Figo’s case drives directly to the present, concretely to the PSG player Kylian Mbappé.
Watching Mbappé play for Real Madrid is a dream for the club’s fans. More importantly, it is a personal achievement for Florentino Pérez, who has been trying to sign the French player for the last few seasons. It seems clear that Kylian Mbappé has become a personal project for Pérez, just as Figo once was.
Every time the football market opens, the possibility of Mbappé signing with the Spanish team arises. This past summer seemed the closest conversations between the player and the Spanish team. However, Kylian Mbappé announced that he was staying in Paris, with a new contract running until 2025.
Marca publications about the deal with Mbappé are continuous. They assure us that the deal with Real Madrid could be done during the upcoming winter market. The French press deny this, pointing to the desire of the player to stay in France.
The rumours are back with the January transfer window around the corner.
Have we learned anything? Does Figo’s transfer, defined by lies and betrayal, offer a blueprint for Mbappé and future transfers?
Unlikely.
And yet by the time this is over, we may see Mbappé wearing an all white Real Madrid jersey, with a cacophony of Parisian fans calling him “traitor”.
