Private jets and secret talks: How close Liverpool came to signing Kylian Mbappe revealed

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10 July 2026

Prolific Frenchman could not resist allure of

PSG

- despite Jurgen Klopp’s best efforts

Jurgen Klopp

has revealed the story of how he tried to woo

Kylian Mbappe

to join

Liverpool

with a private jet and a slap-up meal.

Real Madrid marksman Mbappe has set the

World Cup

alight this summer, scoring eight goals in six France appearances thus far in the campaign, but it has now come out that his career could have taken a very different path.

After watching Mbappe fire France past Morocco and into the World Cup semi-finals

, Klopp lifted the lid on the lengths to which Liverpool went to convince a then-17-year-old Mbappe to move to Anfield.

Klopp explained to Magenta TV: “With Mbappe, it was before he went to Paris. The most expensive non-transfer [Liverpool] ever made.

“We flew from Blackpool to Nice. In Nice, the whole Mbappe family boarded a private jet with five cabins.

Jurgen Klopp moved heaven and earth to sign Kylian Mbappe but Liverpool lost out to Paris Saint-Germain

AFP/Getty

“We really went big. Then we flew around in circles and had a delicious meal. We weren’t allowed to be seen.

“It was great – and then he went to Paris.”

Mbappe, then 20 years old, joined

on a year-long loan, with a fee of £153m (€180m) being paid a year later.

Liverpool and Klopp signed Mohamed Salah for £36.5m that summer instead, who went on to score 257 goals in 442 games for the club.

Mbappe, 27, scored 256 goals for

in his seven years at the club and joined

Real Madrid

in 2024.

He is leading the way in the

Golden Boot race, too. His tally of eight goals is level with that of

Lionel Messi

and one clear of

Erling Haaland

(7). Mbappe (20) is also one behind Messi (21) in the all-time

tournament charts.

Klopp, meanwhile, is in line to become head coach of the German national team after Julian Nagelsmann resigned following their round of 32 loss to Paraguay.

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