Former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has revealed the club once chartered a luxury jet and laid on a meal for Kylian Mbappé and his family in a bid to sign the then 18-year-old Monaco star in 2017—an effort that ultimately failed when he chose Paris St-Germain. Klopp described it as the club’s priciest deal that never happened.
Speaking as a Magenta TV pundit before France’s win over Morocco on their way to the World Cup semi-finals, Klopp said Liverpool were keen on the forward, who is now at Real Madrid. He recounted a flight from Blackpool to Nice so the entire Mbappé family could board a multi-room private jet. Represented by his mother, who runs a consultancy for footballers, Mbappé met the Liverpool party during a discreet, looping flight where they talked and shared a meal—without success.
Mbappé subsequently joined PSG on loan with an option to buy for €180m (£153m), spent seven years in Paris, became the club’s all-time top scorer, and moved to Real Madrid in 2024. Klopp, 59, spent nine years at Liverpool, winning the Champions League and Premier League before stepping down in 2024, and is widely tipped to become Germany’s next head coach.