Liam Duckstein
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Kylian Mbappe has confirmed he held serious negotiations with Liverpool in the summer of 2017, opening up for the first time on why the move never materialised. The French forward detailed his mother’s admiration for Jurgen Klopp and the personal reasoning that ultimately steered him toward Paris Saint-Germain instead.
Mbappe emerged as one of the most electrifying young talents football has produced during his time at Monaco. He racked up 27 goals and 16 assists across 60 appearances before joining Paris Saint-Germain on a season-long loan in August 2017, aged just 18. PSG made the deal permanent in February 2018 for an initial €180m (£166m), and Mbappe went on to become the club’s all-time top scorer with 256 goals in 308 appearances before departing for Real Madrid in July 2024 on a free transfer.
His Mother’s Push for Liverpool
Speaking to The Athletic, Mbappe revealed that his mother was heavily invested in seeing him join Liverpool, who were managed by Klopp at the time. She travelled to Merseyside during the early stages of negotiations, visited Anfield, and watched matches alone to picture her son playing there.
“My mum was a big fan of Jurgen Klopp, and the favourite destination for my mum was Liverpool. She wanted me to go there,” Mbappe said. “She went there for the first step of the negotiations. She went to the city, she went to the stadium, she met the people. She was like, ‘It’s a wonderful club, everybody’s so kind, it’s a family club, a big club.’ She went to Anfield and fell in love with it.”
Despite his mother’s enthusiasm, Mbappe made clear that the pull toward home proved stronger than any pitch from Merseyside.
The Private Jet Meeting With Klopp
Klopp himself addressed the saga earlier this year while covering France’s World Cup campaign for German television, describing the situation as “the most expensive non-transfer we’ve ever made” after boarding a private jet with Mbappe in 2017 to discuss a switch to Anfield.
Mbappe has now corroborated that account, recalling the surreal nature of the meeting.
“I remember we were on the plane and we were turning around and around in the air while he was explaining his project,” Mbappe said. “I said, ‘You don’t need to convince me. You’re Jurgen Klopp, it’s Liverpool, a great club, so of course if I’m here, I have some interest. But I have other things, other projects, that are also good.’ I said to him, ‘Whatever decision I take is going to be a good decision because we are talking about some of the biggest clubs in the world.'”
Why Paris Won the Race
Mbappe explained that two factors ultimately decided the outcome: his desire to represent his hometown club and his ambition to build a reputation on French soil before testing himself abroad. Born and raised in Paris, he viewed a move to PSG as the clearest path to proving himself as a genuine star before considering a departure from Ligue 1.
“It’s a funny story. But in the end I took the decision to go to PSG because for me, born and raised in Paris, there was no better feeling than to show I could be a star in my home town,” Mbappe said.
The forward also praised Klopp personally, noting the respect he built for the German during their brief courtship despite rejecting the move.
“Jurgen Klopp was an amazing manager. I met him and had a wonderful relationship with him. I had big respect for him,” Mbappe said.
Mbappe’s path since leaving Monaco speaks for itself: a decade of dominance in Ligue 1 followed by a switch to one of the biggest clubs in Europe. Whether Liverpool would have offered a similar trajectory remains one of football’s great hypotheticals.
Separately, reports have emerged regarding Liverpool’s stance on a potential move for Bayern Munich target Florian Wirtz, adding another layer to the club’s summer business.
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