Liverpool fans have been left wondering what could have been after Jurgen Klopp revealed he held talks with Kylian Mbappe, with the Reds being told why the superstar turned down the club
09:23, 11 Jul 2026
FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS - JULY 09: Kylian Mbappe of France and Jurgen Klopp are seen after the FIFA World Cup 2026 Quarter Final match between France and Morocco at Boston Stadium on July 09, 2026 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Etsuo Hara/Getty Images)
Jurgen Klopp has revealed how close Liverpool came to signing Kylian Mbappe(Image: Getty Images)
Liverpool has been told why it failed to land Kylian Mbappe after Jurgen Klopp lifted the lid on his attempts to bring the French superstar to Anfield.
Mbappe has been regularly linked with the Reds throughout his career, but it was in 2017 — when he had caught the eye at Monaco — that the club had a real opportunity to land what would have been one of the biggest transfers ever.
Reports over the years have claimed that Mbappe spoke with Liverpool owner John Henry on a private jet as he looked to make the next move in his career, with the player himself confirming he had held talks with the club.
Klopp has now revealed he was involved in the attempts to bring Mbappe to Merseyside, having also been present on the plane.
“The most expensive non-transfer we [Liverpool] invested in,” Klopp explained to MagentaTV. “We flew from Blackpool to Nice. In Nice, the entire Mbappe family boarded a private jet with five rooms or something.
“We really went all out. Then we flew around in a circle, talked with the family, ate good food.”
FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS - JULY 09: Jurgen Klopp attends the FIFA World Cup 2026 Quarter Final match between France and Morocco at Boston Stadium on July 09, 2026 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Michael Regan - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
Jurgen Klopp has revealed he held talks with Kylian Mbappe about joining Liverpool(Image: Getty Images)
Questioned why he didn’t leave the plane for the talks, Klopp responded: “We couldn't be seen. We flew in a circle. It was fantastic. And then he went to Paris…”
Mbappe would indeed choose to move to Paris Saint-Germain, where he would go on to establish himself as one of the world’s best players before earning a move to Real Madrid in 2024, leaving Liverpool to wonder about what could have been.
Of course, back in 2017, the Reds were a different prospect to what they became under Klopp, with the German having not won a trophy with the club at that point, and former Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan believes that may have been the deciding factor in Mbappe’s decision.
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“Timing is so much because the Liverpool side of 2016 was a transitional side,” Jordan told talkSPORT. “I mean, Klopp had come in in the October of 2015 when Brendan Rodgers had missed the opportunity to win the league 18 months previously, had struggled for a second season and eventually lost his job.
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“Klopp came in, and Liverpool were not this irresistible, so when they were talking to Mbappe, you weren’t seeing the Liverpool version that created that went on to win things. What you saw was a Liverpool side that lost his first three finals, or something of that nature, so you didn’t see a Liverpool side that might have been such an irresistible proposition.
“In the mind’s eye, legacy, because of Keegan, Souness, Dalglish, and all the elite players and elite managers that won things with Liverpool, but that was, at that time, 25 years in the rear-view mirror, or certainly 20 years.
“And then you look at it, and it was a Liverpool side that never won the Premier League. Yes, of course, by that time they’d had European conquests, but they were not at the forefront, I suspect, of a 16-year-old Mbappe’s mind when other clubs might have been.”