Jurgen Klopp rallied against big-money signings during his early days at Liverpool, although he would have to change his stance after not long after holding talks with Kylian Mbappe
HERZOGENAURACH, GERMANY - SEPTEMBER 22: Head coach Jürgen Klopp points during a Germany training session at Homeground on September 22, 2026 in Herzogenaurach, Germany. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)
Jurgen Klopp admitted making a mistake with some of his previous transfer comments at Liverpool(Image: Getty Images)
Liverpool’s recent history could have turned out very differently had it been successful in landing arguably the biggest player in the world right now.
The Reds’ attempts to sign Kylian Mbappe in 2017 have been brought to light again this week, with the man himself having given some more details about the meeting he held with Jurgen Klopp.
At the time, Mbappe was eyeing up his first major transfer after bursting onto the scene at Monaco, and Liverpool was in the frame, with Klopp speaking directly to the French superstar on John Henry’s private jet. It was all to no avail, of course, with Mbappe settling on a move to Paris Saint-Germain instead.
"I had to take a decision. And yes, I was close to Liverpool,” Mbappe told The Athletic this week. “My mum was a big fan of Jurgen Klopp and the favorite destination for my mom 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.”
Mbappe moving to Anfield could well have drastically changed the course of history for the Reds, who would of course go on to win the Champions League and Premier League over the following years.
Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappe.
Kylian Mbappe has admitted he came close to joining Liverpool(Image: Alvaro Medranda/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images)
For one thing, Klopp would have been forced into a different outlook on big-money signings. Just a year before those talks with Mbappe, the legendary Liverpool boss had rallied against some of the eye-watering sums being spent by the Reds’ rivals, which included a then-world record fee for Manchester United to re-sign Paul Pogba for around $118 million (£89M).
“If you bring one player in for £100 million or whatever and he gets injured then it all goes through the chimney,” Klopp commented back in 2016.
“The day that this is football, I’m not in a job any more, because the game is about playing together. That is why somebody invented passes so these players can play together. It’s not about running with the ball because you can do it all the time.
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“Building the group is not my unique idea – it is necessary to be successful in football. Other clubs can go out and spend more money and collect top players, yes. Do I have to do it differently to that? I don’t know exactly how much money we could spend because nobody has told me up to this point ‘no, no, no you can’t do this’.
“If I spend money it is because I am trying to build a real team. You can win championships, you can win titles. But maybe there is a manner in which you want it. It is about how it is.”
Liverpool itself would end up spending large amounts of money on the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Alisson Becker and Darwin Nunez over the course of Klopp’s tenure at Anfield, while it also came close to breaking through the £100M barrier in the German’s final summer in charge with a failed attempt to land Moises Caicedo from Brighton.
Moises Caicedo
Liverpool almost spent over £100M on Moises Caicedo in 2023(Image: Adrian Dennis/AFP)
Of course, had Mbappe agreed to move to Merseyside, that financial milestone would have been hit much earlier. The now-Real Madrid star’s move to PSG saw the French giant pay Monaco around $220M (£166M), a figure that would still be a Premier League record now.
It was after the failure to land Caicedo that Klopp changed his stance, and admitted that he had been wrong with his previous comments.
"Everything changed. Do I like it? No. Did I realise I was wrong? Yes. That's the way it goes,” Klopp admitted.
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)
Liverpool would have smashed through the £100M during Jurgen Klopp's time in charge had it signed Kylian Mbappe(Image: Getty Images)
“Saudi Arabia will not help with that. In the end, we have to try and make sure we get the best possible team together.
"50 percent will like it and 50 percent won't. We are trying to bring together the best squad for us. We cannot just point on players and bring them in, there is a lot of work to do. Sometimes one door closes and another opens up. If people want to throw my quotes from five years ago, no problem. I realize I was wrong."
Now in charge of the German national team, Klopp won’t have to worry about transfer fees too often anymore - although he does now find himself in charge of a £100M+ star in Florian Wirtz, and Liverpool will be hoping he can sprinkle his magic on a player who has struggled to settle in on Merseyside.