When Kylian Mbappe made his long-awaited move to Real Madrid this summer, the France superstar could have chosen to live wherever he wanted in the Spanish capital. The Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti has a luxury apartment in the vibrant city centre, which Mbappe already knew well from previous visits. Advertisement His new team-mates Luka Modric and Vinicius Junior have impressive residences in the established and comfortable La Moraleja neighbourhood, close to Madrid’s training ground at Valdebebas in the city’s northern outskirts.

Mbappe opted for La Finca, the exclusive private development in the swish Pozuelo de Alarcon suburb to the west of the city, following fellow galacticos Iker Casillas, Raul Gonzalez, Zinedine Zidane, Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo , Eden Hazard, Toni Kroos and David Alaba . It also helped that there was a suitably luxurious property available on the market. The minimalist, modern 1,100-square-metre mansion has eight bedrooms (all en-suite), ample kitchen and receiving areas including a large cinema screening room.

There is also a home gym, sauna and heated indoor swimming pool — specially designed for the requirements of a top-level professional athlete. The property had a listing price of €12million (£10m; $12.9m) but Mbappe’s representatives had an advantage.

It had been on the market for two years, since the previous occupant left for a new career opportunity in Los Angeles. That gave them more leverage during tough negotiations, and industry.