Kylian Mbappe to wear iconic No 9 at Real Madrid

Real Madrid finally brought to a close a transfer saga that has been going on for years. More than five years, if we go back to the first time that Ronaldo Nazario-like striker was targeted by the Spanish giants. However, on Monday, Kylian Mbappe officially became the new player of the 'Merengues', whose shirt he will wear for the next five seasons.
Mbappe also closes a void in the squad that was left ajar last summer. After the departure of Karim Benzema to Saudi Arabia, the 'Merengue' board were asked to bring in a renowned striker to carry the weight of the attack. Harry Kane seemed to be the most suitable, but Madrid didn't even go for him; he left for Bayern and 'Los Blancos' landed Joselu Mato on loan.
Despite being a classic striker, the Spaniard did not pose in his presentation with the No 9, but took the No 14 that Carlos Henrique Casemiro had just vacated. At Real Madrid, the number par excellence of the centre-forward was left unassigned for the first time since the 1995-96 season, when it was first assigned as a rule in Spanish football. Until then it had always been worn by someone, and usually someone of substance.
It was worn by players such as Luis Enrique, Davor Suker, Fernando Morientes and Ronaldo Nazario until the departure of the Brazilian. Then, the club decided to give the No 9 to a promising home-grown player like Roberto Soldado, back from his brilliant loan spell at Osasuna, and after him it was carried by Javier Saviola who had just arrived for free from FC Barcelona. Neither of the two were able to give it all the lustre, but in 2009 another golden dynasty began.
Its next owner was none other than Cristiano Ronaldo. That first year of the second era of Florentino Perez, the club respected Raul Gonzalez Blanco's No 7 and gave the No 9 to the Portuguese, who even registered the trademark 'CR9' months before his signing. In his first year he made this number great again with his first 33 goals for Real Madrid and, once the Spanish striker left, he left it to Karim Benzema, who wore on his debut season at Real the No 11 that would later be worn by Esteban Granero, Gareth Bale and Marco Asensio.
Benzema's legacy is huge, even though his football rarely corresponded to the essence of his shirt number. The Frenchman was often closer to the No 10 than the No 9, but with that number on his back he ended up scoring 345 of his 354 goals for 'Los Blancos', and he also scored 141 of his 145 assists. In his last five seasons, after Cristiano's departure, the Frenchman raised his scoring average to a ratio of 32.4 per year, whereas before that it had been 21.3.
Mbappe lands at Real Madrid as a total footballer, also being much more than a traditional striker, a profile that is slowly being lost and occasionally dignified by players like Joselu. The Frenchman arrives at Real Madrid having scored 256 goals for Paris Saint-Germain and also provided 94 assists.