Ahead of Paris Saint-Germain vs Liverpool in the Champions League, L’Equipe on Tuesday decided it was time to look back on how close the Reds twice came to signing Kylian Mbappé.
Both times, Jürgen Klopp was in charge, and while the first time they missed out on the prodigy might have been his fault, the second certainly wasn’t.
Back in 2015-16, just after the German manager took charge at Anfield, L’Equipe reveal he was offered the chance to sign Mbappé for just €300k if he managed to convince the Frenchman that signing for Liverpool was the best choice for his career.
However, at that time, Klopp didn’t know a lot about the youngster, and while he told him was more than welcome on Merseyside, he couldn’t give him the guarantees the player and his family were looking for, which Monaco eventually gave them.
The second time was during the summer of 2017, after the principality club’s amazing run in the Champions League, which was when Mbappé really burst onto the world football scene.
At this point, everyone was interested in his services, but Liverpool appeared to have an advantage: Klopp.
According to L’Equipe, the Reds manager and France international met for ‘many hours’ during which the German explained to Mbappé everything he had planned for him, reassured him of his club’s financial abilities, but also warned him they might not match the €150m offers both Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain were waving in Monaco’s faces at the time.
What Klopp did guarantee, however, was that he would make the young forward the best paid player at the club, on the same wage as Philippe Coutinho.
At this point, Mbappé and his family were sold, under the manager’s charm.
Unfortunately for them and for Liverpool, a lot was out of their hands, namely the amounts Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain were ready to spend.
As L’Equipe put it, the La Liga side couldn’t guarantee him a letter in the “BBC”, but the French side were ready to build an “MCN” around him.
The rest, as they say, is history.
