Kylian Mbappe was reportedly close to joining Liverpool after his mother urged him to make the move to Anfield, with secret talks held over a potential transfer
Kylian Mbappe of Paris Saint-Germain looks dejected as he leaves the field after defeat to Borussia Dortmund during the UEFA Champions League semi-final second leg match
Kylian Mbappé was close to joining Liverpool before he joined PSG(Image: 2024 Getty Images)
Kylian Mbappe was reportedly close to joining Liverpool before his move to Real Madrid, with his mother urging him to consider a switch to Anfield.
Mbappe was still at Monaco at the time, but he was attracting strong interest from hometown club Paris Saint-Germain, who he eventually joined for $205 million in the second-biggest transfer in history. Liverpool was also keen, but could not match PSG's wage structure under Qatar Sports Investments (QSI).
However, Mbappe remained interested in joining Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool in 2017 and even held talks with the manager. The forward later revealed that his mother played a key role in his interest in a move to Anfield.
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“It was while I was playing in Monaco,” he recalled during an interview with The Athletic. “I had to take a decision. And yes, I was close to Liverpool. 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, 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.
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 revealed how close Liverpool came to signing Kylian Mbappe during the World Cup(Image: Getty Images)
“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.”
The talks were kept secret by taking them 37,000 feet into the air. Negotiations took place on a private jet that flew from Blackpool to Nice to pick up Mbappe before circling above France as discussions continued. The meeting may have remained undisclosed had Klopp not revealed details of it during the World Cup.
“I remember we were on the plane and we were turning around and around in the air while he was explaining his project,” says Mbappe, making a circular motion with his finger. “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.’
“It’s a funny story (more circular motions). 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.”