Updated: 10 Jul 2026 07:37 BST |
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Jurgen Klopp has revealed how close Liverpool came to signing Real Madrid striker Kylian Mbappe earlier in his career, detailing a deal that was the ‘most expensive non-transfer’ in the Anfield club’s history.
The former manager of the Anfield club has detailed the work his side put in to sign Mbappe when the forward was still in the early stages of his career at Monaco.
The 27-year-old has since blossomed into one of the world’s leading players for PSG and Real Madrid, and on Thursday sent France into a third successive World Cup semi-final with the opening goal against Morocco. Les Bleus secured a 2-0 victory in that match, with the Bondy-born forward netting his eighth of the competition with a shot from the edge of the box on the hour mark.
Klopp on Mbappe
Mbappe’s career could have panned out very differently had Klopp had his way.
“It was the most expensive non-transfer that Liverpool invested in,” Klopp told German channel Magenta TV (via BBC Sport) when working as a pundit for the France game.
“We flew from Blackpool to Nice. In Nice, the whole Mbappe family got on board a private plane with five rooms or something.
“We really went big. Then we flew around in a circle, talked to the family, ate good food. We weren’t allowed to be seen. We flew in a circle. It was fantastic. And then he went to Paris.”
PSG paid €180m to beat Liverpool and Real Madrid to Mbappe in the summer of 2017, signing him initially on loan before sending the money to Monaco a year later.
The striker then departed Parc des Princes as a free agent to join Real Madrid in 2024, missing out on the Parisians winning the Champions League in back-to-back years.
Could Mbappe join Liverpool in the future
Mbappe has never hidden his admiration for Liverpool or, especially, Klopp, making Anfield a potential destination should he ever decide to leave Real Madrid.
Speaking to BBC Sport in 2020, he said: “What Liverpool do in this moment is amazing. They’re like a machine, they’ve found a rhythm and are like ‘we play again, we play again’.
“They’ve lost zero games. When you watch you think everything’s easy but that’s not easy. The guys are focused, they play games every three days and they win, they win, they win.
“Now the problem is that everybody watches Liverpool, and everybody watches what we can do against them, so now they have to show they are strong again but it’s a very good team with a very good manager.”
Speaking about Liverpool in 2022, he admitted that there had been signing talks with the Premier League club, although he played down how serious these were: “We talked to them a bit, but not much, in the end it was between Real Madrid and PSG.
“I have spoken to Liverpool because red is my mother’s favourite colour and she loves Liverpool. Why? I don’t know.
“We met with them a few years ago when I was at Monaco, it’s a great club.”
There is clear mutual respect between Mbappe and Klopp, so the German’s decision to stand down from the Liverpool job two summers ago certainly reduces the draw of the club for a world-class figure like the France star. Nevertheless, the Reds have planted a seed that they can one day hope will become something more.
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