Jurgen Klopp has revealed just how close Liverpool came to signing Kylian Mbappe while he was in charge at Anfield.
In a stunning admission, Klopp, who was covering the World Cup quarter-final between France and Morocco for German television station Magenta TV, detailed live on air how Mbappe was almost a Liverpool player in 2016.
Mbappe, then a rising star teenager at Monaco, had Europe’s elite scrambling to win his signature and Liverpool were no different.
With Klopp’s buy-in, Liverpool sent a delegation to France to try and win Mbappe and his family over.
‘The most expensive non-transfer that we [Liverpool] invested in!’ Klopp recalled pre-match.
‘We flew from Blackpool to Nice. In Nice, the whole Mbappe family got on board a private plane with five rooms or something.
Jurgen Klopp (left) once boarded a private jet from Blackpool to try and sign Kylian Mbappe
The pair reminisced after Mbappe fired France into the 2026 World Cup semi-finals in Boston
‘We really went big [with the plane]. Then we flew around in a circle, talked to the family, ate good food.’
Due to the complexities around tapping up players at rival clubs, Liverpool wanted their recruitment mission to be kept quiet and so did not want to risk landing – so made their pitch in the air.
‘We weren’t allowed to be seen,’ Klopp said.
‘We flew in a circle. It was fantastic. And then he went to Paris…’
It was a sliding doors moment as Mbappe picked Paris Saint-Germain as his next step after Monaco, initially joining on loan before PSG picked up a tab worth £165million.
Mbappe hit superstardom thereafter, winning the World Cup with France in 2018, leading them to the final in 2022 and scoring a hat-trick in that Qatar finale, while also starring for Les Bleus once again on the biggest stage, this time as a Real Madrid player.
Klopp, currently in talks to become the new Germany manager after Julian Nagelsmann’s post-World Cup exit, has not held a grudge though.
Klopp recalled meeting a teenage Mbappe and his family on a private jet that flew in a circle
Once the match ended, Mbappe went over to Klopp on the sidelines and the pair shared a few hugs and laughs, with Klopp seen blowing a kiss to Mbappe’s family at the player’s request, perhaps reliving that lunch on a plane a decade ago.
Mbappe was super again at this World Cup, scoring France’s first and teeing up Ousmane Dembele for their second as Didier Deschamps’ side booked their place in next week’s semi-finals.
Mbappe’s stunning strike, which made it 1-0, draws him level with Lionel Messi on eight goals in the race for the golden boot, while Mbappe is now up to 20 goals in 20 World Cup games.
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