French footballer Kylian Mbappé (25 years old) will leave PSG in June. His next destination has not yet been made official, but all roads lead to Real Madrid. And in the real estate sector all the alarms have gone off. The main luxury agencies hope to be able to mediate what will be the operation of the year in Madrid. Although the secrecy is absolute and the procedures are carried out with the utmost discretion, EL PAÍS has been able to confirm that at least one agency has already received the mandate and is looking for a new home for the footballer in the capital. No matter what it costs. There is no price limit for elite footballers and even less so for Mbappé, whom Forbes places as the third highest paid athlete in the world with a total income of 120 million euros per year. The main real estate advisors are considering that the Frenchman could opt for a single-family home with modern lines and open spaces where he prioritizes security and privacy, something that in Madrid costs between 8 and 18 million euros. The agency's commission is around 3.5%, that is, for a house of 18 million it is 630,000 euros. Some sports media have published that the mother and agent of the PSG seven, Fayza Lamari, and her closest circle moved to the capital in February to manage the search for the new house. There are two exclusive developments that are in the running to be the home of the Mbappé clan: La Finca and La Moraleja. The first, in Pozuelo de Alarcón, has no rival if what the player with the most media exposure in the world is looking for is security and privacy. It is the option that many of the analysts consulted opt for. «It stands out for its more modern style and in line with the contemporary tastes of soccer players, making it the main option for those looking for a younger and at the same time exclusive environment,» says Paloma Pérez Bravo, CEO of Viva Sotheby's International Realty. In this bunker, with a triple security perimeter, footballers such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Diego Pablo Simeone, Kaká, Fernando Torres and Karim Benzema have lived or live, as well as a long list of businessmen and artists. If, on the other hand, the distance to the Real Madrid's sports city, the choice will be La Moraleja, five minutes from Valdebebas. In both residential areas there is an offer of new and second-hand mansions that would perfectly adapt to the player's demands. At the Gilmar luxury agency, they consider that the most reasonable thing is for him not to buy immediately, but rather to rent a house—perhaps from someone else. footballer—temporarily and then acquire a permanent home. If so, you will have to pay around 25,000 euros per month. “The rental allows these players to see how they feel in the area and analyze whether the privacy is sufficient,” says José Luis Pérez Moste, director of Gilmar's large client department. What someone like Mbappé is after are super luxury mansions. “These are homes larger than 1,000 square meters that are designed by architects of recognized prestige and of the highest level and are usually equipped with an outdoor and indoor pool, sports areas with a gym and spa, a wine cellar, a cinema room and endless of luxuries that are not available to everyone,” says Ignacio Calzada, commercial director of Coldwell Banker. This client profile is looking for “homes already renovated or ready to move into and with a high-level interior design project,” adds Ana White, Premium Properties director at Knight Frank. Parking cannot be missing from the list of essentials for great soccer players, since they usually have a large fleet of vehicles that they collect. Gonzalo López-van Dam, director of Promora, talks about garages with capacity for up to ten cars. “They prefer a single floor or two at most – in this case with an elevator – because they are very familiar people and they look for practical house types,” says Pérez Moste. In this sense, “they value the division of spaces into two different areas: the private rooms and the areas intended for visitors,” adds Pérez Bravo. Outside they demand swimming pools, minigolf, basketball and paddle tennis courts and even soccer fields. And the plots, of at least one hectare, must provide privacy and security. For this reason, “they don't like passing plots; «They look for high ground and in the bottom of the bag, which allows them to have much more control over who has access,» says Pérez Moste. Different media outlets have published that the soccer player Sergio Ramos has offered the Frenchman the house he has for sale, for six million, in The morale. Experts are not clear. “It's not worth it, it's small for him and he may use it temporarily, as a rental, but he will look for a house to buy almost immediately,” warns López-van Dam. The search for mansions for someone like Mbappé is not an easy process. High-level clients like this expect “immaculate service and, above all, that the confidentiality of the process is respected,” says White.
The purchase filters
There are different filters. It is common for first division footballers who move to Madrid to receive advice from other players and the club itself. This is how they come into contact with lawyers and representatives who have contacts within the large luxury real estate companies. The right hand of the players and their circle of trust, anonymously and without revealing the identity of the client, make the first filters, discarding the houses that do not meet the conditions. Next, it is the family, be it the couple, the parents or brothers, who makes a new cut. The last one to visit the two or three houses that remain after the casting closes is the player. “They usually have the support of prestigious law firms, assigning a legal representative to manage the negotiation and represent them in the signing of the deeds,” says Calzada. Sometimes, they don't even approve the house. “They don't always get to visit the home, but it is the family's opinion that usually takes precedence, since they are the ones who will spend most of the time there. «They want to take away their headaches,» says Pérez Moste, from Gilmar, a company that has experience in finding a home for ball stars. The agency, which at the time looked for a home in Madrid for players like Kaká or Kun Agüero, has of a department for large clients with a budget of over five million euros. “This type of client demands different and very specific attention, they want privacy and availability because they are people, or whoever is in charge of these tasks, with tight schedules and we try to give them fairly severe prior filters and, above all, not make them lose their time.” time, which is something they value very much,” indicates the head of this department. In Promora, another of the luxury agencies in the capital that intervened in the search for the home of David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo, they report the difficulty of these efforts. “There are people who know the friend of the player's cousin who want a commission for introducing him to you, owners who raise the price when they find out who is looking for the house, complicated schedules, visits with little notice…; It's crazy. This does not allow you to advise correctly because there are many people who stand between the person and the broker: family, representatives, friends and intermediaries,” says López-van Dam. They are not just looking for the house. Some of these luxury agencies roll out the red carpet. “We provide a comprehensive service: renovation, insurance, hiring gardening or alarm services and even reserving private rooms in restaurants,” says Gilmar. Follow all the information from Economy and Business on Facebook and xor in our weekly newsletter
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