Mbappé says he came close to joining Liverpool in 2016
Kylian Mbappé has said he came close to joining Liverpool in 2016, revealing the near-move in an interview with The Athletic. He told the publication his mother favoured a move to Anfield and former Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp recounted a concerted effort that involved arranging private travel for the Mbappé family.
Mbappé, the France and Real Madrid striker who is now 27 and is described in the source as France's all-time leading goalscorer, said Liverpool tried to sign him when he was 18 and playing for Monaco in Ligue 1. "I was close to [joining] Liverpool. The favourite destination for my mum was Liverpool. She wanted me to go there," he said, adding that he resisted because he wanted to remain in Paris at that stage of his career. "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."
Klopp, speaking as a pundit on Magenta TV at the 2026 World Cup, described how Liverpool organised travel from Blackpool to Nice and then moved the family onto a private jet. He said "the entire Mbappe family boarded a private jet with five rooms or something" and that the club had "really went all out" to court them. "Then we flew around in a circle, talked with the family, ate good food," Klopp added, before noting the approach did not result in a transfer.
Mbappé recounted his mother's personal involvement in the negotiations, saying she travelled to Liverpool to see the city and the stadium. "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'," said Mbappé, who added: "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."
Reflecting on his ultimate choice, Mbappé called the story "a funny story" and explained his decision to move to Paris. "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 hometown," he said.
Mbappé later joined Paris St-Germain on loan in a deal that included an option for the move to become permanent for 180m euros (£165.7m), went on to spend seven years in Paris and became the club's record scorer. He left Paris St-Germain for Real Madrid in 2024.
