Mbappé Reveals How Close He Came to Joining Liverpool in 2017
Kylian Mbappé has revealed fascinating details about his negotiations with Liverpool in 2017, including a private meeting with then-Reds manager Jürgen Klopp aboard a private jet. The France and Real Madrid star explained that Liverpool was seriously considered when he was an 18-year-old Monaco player, but he ultimately chose a different path by joining Paris Saint-Germain.
Mbappé was one of European football’s most exciting young talents during the 2016-17 season. His impressive performances helped Monaco win the French Ligue 1 title and reach the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League, attracting strong interest from some of Europe’s biggest clubs.
Liverpool was among the clubs attempting to sign the teenager. In an interview with The Athletic, Mbappé explained that his mother was particularly attracted to the idea of moving to England. She had visited Liverpool and watched matches at Anfield, where she was impressed by the atmosphere and the family-like environment surrounding the club.
“I had to make a decision, and I was actually close to Liverpool,” Mbappé explained. “My mother liked Klopp and preferred me to move to Liverpool.”
The French forward also recalled travelling to England during the early stages of the negotiations. His mother visited Anfield and began imagining her son playing at the famous stadium.
The negotiations even included a highly unusual meeting with Jürgen Klopp. Mbappé revealed that he met the German coach aboard a private jet, where Klopp presented Liverpool’s sporting project to him and his family.
“I remember Klopp explaining his project to us while we were flying on a private jet,” Mbappé said.
Despite Liverpool’s interest and Klopp’s reputation, Mbappé said the manager did not really need to convince him because he already had enormous respect for both Klopp and Liverpool.
“I told Klopp that he didn’t need to convince me. He is a great coach, Liverpool is a great club, and their interest in signing me meant a lot. But I was planning a different path,” Mbappé recalled.
Klopp had previously provided his own account of the unusual negotiations. According to the German coach, he travelled by private jet from Blackpool to Nice, France, where Mbappé’s family joined the flight. The plane remained in the air during the discussions in an effort to keep the negotiations confidential.
In the end, Mbappé decided against a move to Liverpool. Instead, he joined Paris Saint-Germain from Monaco on loan in the summer of 2017 before completing a permanent transfer to the Paris club in 2018 for €180 million.
Mbappé later spent seven seasons at PSG, winning six Ligue 1 titles and becoming the club’s all-time leading goalscorer. He also helped the French side reach the UEFA Champions League final in 2020.
The forward eventually left Paris Saint-Germain and joined Real Madrid in the summer of 2024, completing one of the most anticipated transfers in modern football.
Looking back at the Liverpool negotiations, Mbappé described the episode as a funny story and explained that his decision was driven by his strong desire to succeed in his home country and in his hometown of Paris.
The story remains one of football’s most intriguing transfer possibilities. Had Mbappé accepted Liverpool’s offer in 2017, his career—and potentially the history of both Liverpool and European football—could have taken a very different direction. Instead, the teenager chose PSG, where he developed into one of the world's leading forwards before eventually making his long-awaited move to Real Madrid.
Keywords: Kylian Mbappé, Mbappé Liverpool, Mbappé Liverpool transfer, Mbappé 2017, Jürgen Klopp, Liverpool transfer news, Mbappé PSG, Real Madrid, Monaco, Premier League, football transfer news, Mbappé Klopp meeting.
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