Mbappe's transfer was like a bombshell that exploded in the European transfer market.
The staggering price of 250 million euros, despite being repeatedly reported by the media, still left the world speechless. No one could believe that someone could actually surpass Neymar.
Is Mbappe really worth that price?
Everyone agreed that he was.
After winning the World Cup in 2018, he went on to win both the Premier League and the Champions League in 2019. He also won the Golden Boot in both competitions, and in the European Golden Boot race, he ranked second only to Messi.
Such achievements are truly remarkable for a young player who is only 20 years old.
It could even be said to be unprecedented.
Many people even compared him to Ronaldo during his time at Barcelona.
Superstars of this caliber are extremely rare and hard to find.
With Messi and Ronaldo both aging, Mbappe has undoubtedly become the top superstar most likely to take over as the next face of world football, which makes him a huge attraction for all the top clubs.
As Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez said in an interview with AS, superstars are crucial to a top club, both on the sporting and commercial fronts.
Since Ronaldo's departure, Real Madrid has experienced a decline in both competitiveness and commercial appeal.
Now, Mbappe's arrival will greatly enhance Real Madrid's brand influence, while also improving the team's strength in La Liga and the Champions League.
With 120 million euros for De Ligt and 250 million euros for Mbappe, Real Madrid spent a staggering 370 million euros to sign two superstars, demonstrating unprecedented boldness.
AS even proclaimed that Real Madrid would replicate the feat of 2009, rebuild a new superstar lineup for the next decade, and create Galácticos 3.0.
It was undoubtedly an attractive and ambitious move.
As for funding, there was no need to worry.
Real Madrid had accumulated significant revenue over the past few years, and during Gareth Southampton's tenure, the club didn't invest much in transfers. Now, with both incoming and outgoing deals, finances were not a problem.
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Just as the aftershocks of Mbappe's shocking transfer were still reverberating, Spanish newspaper Marca broke another major story.
Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, and Leeds United were set to complete a stunning chain of deals.
According to the report, Real Madrid's Pogba would move to Paris Saint-Germain for 150 million euros, while Leeds United's Bernardo Silva would join Real Madrid for the same amount.
This once again drew significant attention in the transfer market.
Bernardo Silva, a midfielder long coveted by Guardiola and also targeted by Manchester United, Liverpool, and Barcelona—was he really about to transfer to Real Madrid?
However, before this high-profile deal was finalized, L'Équipe reported that Paris Saint-Germain had completed the signing of Ousmane Dembélé from Leeds United for 150 million euros, marking the French winger's official return to Ligue 1.
This immediately sparked celebrations across French football.
Although they failed to sign Mbappe from Real Madrid, signing Dembélé was still a major statement by PSG.
Head coach Tuchel said in a media interview in Germany that signing Dembélé was of utmost importance to Paris Saint-Germain, and he was even happier about this signing than if they had signed Mbappe.
"Because we already have Neymar, now we have Neymar plus Dembélé!"
Tuchel made no secret of his satisfaction, saying that the club's summer signings had made him the happiest coach in Europe and that he was full of confidence for the new season.
"I can't wait!"
From Mazraoui to Varane to Dembélé, every move orchestrated by Gao Shen perfectly matched Tuchel's needs.
As July began, the long-rumored transfer of Pogba was finally completed.
The French midfielder transferred from Real Madrid to Paris Saint-Germain for 150 million euros.
At almost the same time, Real Madrid announced the signing of Bernardo Silva from Leeds United for the same amount.
Shortly after, Real Madrid also announced the sale of left-back Marcos Alonso to Chelsea for 45 million euros and striker Raúl de Tomás to Benfica for 25 million euros.
These two transfers brought in a total of 70 million euros. Combined with the transfers of Varane and Pogba, Real Madrid's transfer revenue this summer set a new historical record.
Real Madrid then officially announced the signing of Portuguese prodigy João Félix from Leeds United for a record-breaking 130 million euros. The young star had attracted interest from several top clubs, including Chelsea, Atlético Madrid, Manchester United, Manchester City, and Liverpool.
However, Real Madrid, thanks to their relationship with Leeds United and Mendes, gained an early advantage, even though the transfer fee was extremely high.
As a result, Real Madrid spent an astonishing 650 million euros in the summer transfer market. Although they earned over 300 million euros through sales, their net investment still reached 300 million euros.
According to Marca, however, the 250 million euro investment in Mbappe was already factored into the previous year's financial planning when Ronaldo was sold, so strictly speaking, Real Madrid's investment of 300 million euros over two summers was still within a controllable range.
After signing Pogba, Varane, Dembélé, and Mazraoui, PSG's total investment exceeded 400 million euros. But after selling players such as Diaby and Trapp for a combined 80 million euros, their net investment was only slightly higher than Real Madrid's.
Despite spending over 300 million euros, PSG's management, the French media, fans, and even the French Football Federation were all pleased with their summer business.
Signing three French internationals—Dembélé, Pogba, and Varane—for a net investment of just 300 million euros was seen as an excellent deal, especially considering that Varane was the captain of the French national team.
More importantly, all three were still relatively young.
In the words of PSG president Nasser, they would form the central core of Paris Saint-Germain for the next five to seven years.
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Real Madrid and PSG's wild spending spree sent shockwaves throughout Europe, plunging the entire football world into chaos.
After failing to sign De Ligt, Bayern Munich turned their attention to Atlético Madrid's Lucas Hernandez. As a result, the French center-back's value skyrocketed, and after several rounds of negotiation, the deal was finalized for 90 million euros.
This set a new record for Bayern Munich's most expensive signing in history.
But just a few days later, that record was broken.
Bayern Munich signed midfielder Joshua Kimmich from Leeds United for a record-breaking 100 million euros, making it the most expensive transfer in Bundesliga history.
The player was also on Pep Guardiola's radar at Manchester City, but after weighing the options, Kimmich chose to return to the Bundesliga and accepted Bayern's offer.
After missing out on Kimmich, Guardiola turned to another target for Manchester City: Rodri.
The transfer fee was also 100 million euros, and Manchester City finally brought the Spanish defensive midfielder into their squad.
With Javi Martinez plagued by injuries and Fernandinho struggling to maintain form, Guardiola hoped Rodri's arrival would strengthen Manchester City's midfield depth.
As for Yaya Touré, he had already left Manchester City shortly after Guardiola took charge.
Encouraged by Manchester City's moves, Manchester United intensified their pursuit of Arnold, which forced Liverpool to act. Ultimately, Liverpool owner John Henry personally called Fernando Lucas and agreed to meet Leeds United's asking price of 200 million euros to sign both Arnold and Robertson as a package deal.
This immediately sent the entire Premier League transfer market into a frenzy.
Crystal Palace took the opportunity to raise their price, and Manchester United ended up signing Wan-Bissaka for 70 million euros.
The entire Premier League was stunned.
Who would have thought that the transfer market could become so irrational?
Wan-Bissaka for 70 million euros?
No one cared how many years the payments would take or how much was fixed or variable. All that mattered was one fact: Manchester United had gone mad.
Compared to Liverpool spending 200 million euros on Arnold and Robertson, Wan-Bissaka's 70 million still seemed insane.
However, whether to raise funds or for other reasons, Manchester United sold striker Romelu Lukaku to Inter Milan for 75 million euros.
Just two years ago, Manchester United had signed Lukaku for 85 million euros. Last year, because of Lukaku, they missed out on Harry Kane. Now selling him for 75 million euros looked like a minor loss on paper, but in reality, it was a huge one.
After signing Lukaku, Inter Milan's arrival in the transfer arms race triggered movement in Serie A as well.
Juventus soon announced that they had signed Milinkovic from Leeds United for 100 million euros.
Allegri believed that the addition of the Serbian midfielder would greatly enhance Juventus' attacking play through the midfield and forward lines.
Soon after, Barcelona announced the signing of Serbian striker Luka Jovic from Eintracht Frankfurt for 75 million euros.
Since the beginning of the year, reports had linked Barcelona to the 21-year-old all-around forward, and scouts had observed him 14 times. There had also been previous reports that Real Madrid wanted Jovic to succeed the aging Benzema and Dzeko.
In the end, Real Madrid did not make an offer, while Barcelona, feeling the pressure after Real Madrid's spree that included Mbappe, Félix, Bernardo Silva, and De Ligt, eagerly agreed to Frankfurt's asking price.
As a result, Barcelona's total summer spending approached 300 million euros.
In just one month, the European transfer market became incredibly volatile, with headline news almost every day, keeping media and fans worldwide on edge.
Even as the summer training camps approached, both fans and the media still felt that time had flown by too quickly.
As the German football magazine Kicker described it, this was undoubtedly the most exciting and thrilling summer transfer window in European football history.
But when everyone looked back, they were shocked to realize that Leeds United, the reigning Champions League winners, had lost nearly all of their key players in just one summer.
How was the White Rose supposed to compete in the new season?
(To be continued.)