Kylian Mbappe reveals two reasons for Liverpool snub after confirming deal was ‘close’
Kylian Mbappe has confirmed he held concrete negotiations to join Liverpool from Monaco in the summer of 2017, with the French striker also explaining why the transfer did not happen.
Mbappe broke through as one of the most exciting young players the world has ever seen at Monaco. In August 2017, he joined Paris Saint-Germain on an initial season-long loan – aged just 18 – after hitting 27 goals and 16 assists in 60 matches for Monaco.
In February 2018, PSG activated their €180m (£166m) option to sign the electric forward permanently.
Mbappe would go on to become PSG’s all-time record scorer, notching a remarkable 256 goals in 308 appearances, before running down his contract and signing for Real Madrid in July 2024.
Mbappe has cemented his status as one of the best players in the world, but the 27-year-old’s career could have been very different indeed.
In an interview with The Athletic, Mbappe confirmed that his mother was eager for him to join Liverpool nine years ago, who were managed by the legendary Jurgen Klopp at the time.
Ultimately, Mbappe rejected Liverpool in favour of PSG. He wanted to play in his hometown of Paris, while he also wanted to establish a big reputation in France before leaving for another elite club abroad.
“It was while I was playing in Monaco. I had to take a decision. And yes, I was close to Liverpool,” he said.
“My mum was a big fan of Jürgen Klopp, and the favourite destination for my mum was Liverpool. She wanted me to go there.
“I didn’t listen because I wanted to play in my city, Paris. I didn’t want to leave my country before I was someone.
“But yes, my mum was always saying ‘Liverpool — you’re going to be there, playing at Anfield, it’s going to be insane for you.’ I was like, ‘OK!’
“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. She watched a few games alone, to feel the atmosphere, because she wanted to imagine me in this stadium.
‘You have to go to Liverpool’
“All the time we were talking. ‘What do you think, Mum?’ She’d say, ‘For me, you have to go to Liverpool.’ I said, ‘OK, OK, OK!’ because Jürgen Klopp was an amazing manager. I met him and had a wonderful relationship with him. I had big respect for him.”
While covering France at this year’s World Cup on German TV, Klopp revealed that he had boarded a private jet with Mbappe in 2017 to discuss a potential switch to Anfield, calling it ‘the most expensive non-transfer we’ve ever made’.
Mbappe has now confirmed such talks by saying: “I remember we were on the plane and we were turning around and around in the air while he was explaining his project.
“I said, ‘You don’t need to convince me. You’re Jürgen 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.’
“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.”
Meanwhile, we can confirm Liverpool’s decision on the potential sale of Florian Wirtz to Bayern Munich.
