Real Madrid superstar Kylian Mbappe has spoken out on his decision to reject the chance to join Liverpool earlier in his career.
It seems the France international, now one of the best players of his generation, had come close to joining the Reds when he was still a youngster at Monaco.
However, Mbappe has told the Athletic that, despite the pleas of his Liverpool-supporting mother, he decided he wanted to stay in France and represent Paris Saint-Germain.
Mbappe would go on to play 308 games for PSG, scoring 256 goals and winning six league titles, as well as other major honours, before making the move to Real Madrid.
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One can only imagine what a signing this could have been for Liverpool, and it seems Mbappe was impressed by the club and by their manager at the time, Jurgen Klopp.
Kylian Mbappe on nearly joining Liverpool
See below as Mbappe discusses his talks with Liverpool and Klopp, only to decide that, at that stage of his career, it was important for him to be playing in his country and his city.
“It was while I was playing in Monaco. I had to take a decision. And yes, I was close to Liverpool,”Mbappe said.
“My mum was a big fan of Jurgen Klopp and the favourite destination for my mum was Liverpool. She wanted me to go there.
“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. But yes, my mum was always saying, ‘Liverpool — you’re going to be there, playing at Anfield, it’s going to be insane for you.’ I was like, ‘OK!’
“She went there (for) the first step of the negotiations. 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.’”
He added: “I remember we were on the plane and we were turning around and around in the air while he was explaining his project. I said, ‘You don’t need to convince me. You’re Jurgen Klopp, it’s Liverpool, a great club, so of course if I’m here, I have some interest. But I have other things, other projects, that are also good.’ I said to him, ‘Whatever decision I take is going to be a good decision because we are talking about some of the biggest clubs in the world.’
“It’s a funny story (more circular motions). 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 home town.”
Kylian Mbappe was also wanted by Arsenal
Mbappe established himself as a huge prospect at Monaco, so you won’t be surprised to hear that Liverpool weren’t his only suitors at that time.
The Daily Mirror claim that Arsenal also tried their luck, with former manager Arsene Wenger travelling to speak to his fellow Frenchman.
It would certainly have been exciting to see Mbappe in the Premier League during his peak years, but that now seems unlikely.
The 27-year-old is now surely going to be at Real Madrid for the long term, though perhaps he’s still young enough that we could see him in English football for a short time later on in his career.
