Dubai: Real Madrid and French forward Kylian Mbappe has revealed that his mum wanted him to choose a move to Liverpool before he opted to join Paris Saint-Germain in 2017.
The Reds were regularly linked with France superstar Mbappe during the Jurgen Klopp era at Anfield but nothing ever came of the speculation.
Mbappe burst onto the scene as a 16-year-old for Ligue 1 side Monaco, where he became their youngster ever player, before moving to PSG in 2017 on loan in August 2017 with a mandatory purchase option of €180m.
He remained at PSG for seven years before leaving the club in 2024, allowing his contract to expire before completing a free transfer to Real Madrid.
However, the France international has now revealed that his career could have taken a very different path. Speaking to The Athletic, Mbappe explained just how close he came to joining Liverpool before eventually choosing PSG.
“It was while I was playing in Monaco. I had to take a decision. And yes, I was close to Liverpool. My mum was a big fan of Jurgen Klopp and the favourite destination for my mum was Liverpool. She wanted me to go there,” said Mbappe.
Despite his mother’s strong preference for Liverpool, Mbappe ultimately decided that staying in France was the right move for him at that stage of his career.
The forward explained that the opportunity to continue his development in Paris, where he was born and raised, outweighed the prospect of moving abroad to join Klopp’s Liverpool.
“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!’”
Mbappe’s mother was clearly impressed by what Liverpool had to offer and went beyond simply encouraging her son to consider the move.
She visited Anfield herself and experienced the matchday atmosphere, while also forming a positive impression of the club and its culture.
On his mum’s attempts to convince him of a move to Liverpool, Mbappe added: “She was like, ‘It’s a wonderful club, everybody’s so kind, it’s a family club, a big club.’
“She went to Anfield and fell in love with it. She watched a few games alone, to feel the atmosphere, because she wanted to imagine me in this stadium.
The pair regularly discussed Mbappe’s future, with his mother continuing to make her preference for Liverpool clear. Klopp’s presence at the club also made the prospect particularly appealing to the young forward.
“All the time we were talking. [I would say:] ‘What do you think, Mum?’. She’d say, ‘For me, you have to go to Liverpool’. I said, ‘OK, OK, OK!’ because Jurgen Klopp was an amazing manager. I met him and had a wonderful relationship with him. I had big respect for him.”
Mbappe went on to establish himself as one of the biggest stars in world football during his seven-year spell at Paris Saint-Germain.
The France international scored 256 goals in 308 appearances for PSG, making him the club’s all-time leading scorer. He also collected 15 major trophies in Paris, including six Ligue 1 titles and four Coupe de France triumphs.
Individually, Mbappe continued to rewrite the record books, finishing as Ligue 1’s top scorer in six consecutive seasons from 2018-19 through to 2023-24. He also became the competition’s record five-time Player of the Year.
The one major prize that eluded him in Paris was the Champions League. PSG came closest in 2020 when they reached the final, only to lose 1-0 to Bayern Munich.
After seven seasons in the French capital, Mbappe finally made the move he had been linked with for years, joining Real Madrid as a free agent in 2024 after his PSG contract expired. The Spanish giants confirmed he had agreed a five-year deal.
He made an immediate impact in Madrid, scoring on his competitive debut against Atalanta in the UEFA Super Cup and lifting his first trophy with the club. By April 2026, Mbappe had reached 100 appearances for Real Madrid, scoring 85 goals in the process.
Yet with all that has followed in Paris and Madrid, it remains fascinating to consider how different Mbappe’s career might have looked had he followed his mother’s advice and chosen Liverpool while Klopp was at the helm.
A Liverpool attack featuring Mbappe alongside the likes of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane is a tantalising what-if, particularly given the trophies Klopp’s side went on to win.
Whether Mbappe could have added even more silverware to that Liverpool era is impossible to know, but the thought of the French superstar playing under Klopp at Anfield is certainly one Liverpool fans could dream of.
