Kylian Mbappé says he came close to joining Liverpool in 2016

Kylian Mbappé says he came close to a move to Liverpool in 2016. The French Real Madrid forward, now 27, explained that the Reds had tried to sign him when he was 18 and playing for Monaco in Ligue 1.

He said, however, that he chose a different path. “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,” he said. He later joined PSG on loan, in a deal containing an option to make the move permanent for €180m (£165.7m).

Mbappé said Liverpool had been his mother’s preferred destination, as she was a big fan of Jürgen Klopp. “I was close to joining Liverpool. The favourite destination for my mum was Liverpool. She wanted me to go there,” he said.

According to Mbappé, his mother travelled to Liverpool for the first stage of the negotiations. She visited the city and the stadium, met people at the club and described Liverpool as “a wonderful club”, where everyone was very kind, with a family spirit and major stature. She also went to Anfield, which she fell in love with, and watched several matches alone to experience the atmosphere and picture her son in that stadium.

Klopp also recalled the attempted signing while working as a pundit during the 2026 World Cup. The former Liverpool manager explained that a flight was arranged from Blackpool to Nice, before the entire Mbappé family boarded a private jet with “five rooms or something”. “We really went all out. Then we flew around in a circle, talked with the family and ate good food,” Klopp said.

The former manager added that the parties had not wanted to be seen holding talks, but that the meeting did not lead anywhere. “We flew in a circle. It was fantastic. And then he went to Paris,” he added.

Mbappé summed up the choice that took him to PSG: “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 spent seven years in Paris, becoming the club’s record scorer before joining Real Madrid in 2024.

Elsewhere in the news, Hodgkinson dazzled to win the Athlos 800m. The question of who will start for England at Euro 2028 remains, while England’s 39-match winning run was halted by a thrilling draw with Canada. Another question concerns how corporate security has changed after the Mangione case.