Football
Mbappe makes stunning revelation about failed Liverpool transfer
Kylian Mbappe has revealed just how close he came to becoming a Liverpool player, with the French star admitting he defied his mother’s wishes during the proposed move in 2017.
The Real Madrid superstar burst onto the scene with AS Monaco as a 16-year-old in 2015, and his display caught the attention of top clubs across Europe.
Liverpool were among the clubs eager to sign the Frenchman but they faced competition from Real Madrid and Mbappe’s hometown club Paris Saint-Germain.
If the decision had been down to his mum and agent Fayza Lamari, then Mbappe would have been lacing up his boots for the Reds.
But Mbappe had other ideas despite having held a meeting with Klopp on board a private jet over the south of France in 2017.
Jurgen Klopp during his time at Liverpool talking to Kylian Mbappe of PSG. (Photo by Anthony Dibon/Icon Sport via Getty Images)
“It was while I was playing in Monaco, I had to take a decision. And yes, I was close to Liverpool,” Mbappe recalled in an interview with The Athletic.
“My mum was a big fan of Jurgen 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.
“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 Jurgen Klopp was an amazing manager. I met him and had a wonderful relationship with him. I had big respect for him.”
Mbappe, famously spearheaded Monaco’s Ligue 1 title charge in the 2016/17 season, pipping his future club in the process.
At the age of 18, Mbappe was unstoppable, scoring 15 goals in 29 Ligue 1 matches and a further six goals in Monaco’s run to the Champions League semi-finals.
That was enough to convince big-spending PSG to agree an initial loan deal leading to a whopping £166million transfer for the talented forward.