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Kylian Mbappé may have finally put an end to the most drawn-out transfer saga in modern football by joining Real Madrid this summer, but the story could have looked drastically different. While his mother always dreamed of seeing him at Anfield, reality never quite aligned. Still, looking back, the prospect of Mbappé in a Liverpool shirt wasn’t just idle gossip; there were moments where it felt like it might actually happen.
The flirtation with Liverpool goes back nearly a decade. In 2017, when he was just an 18-year-old prodigy at Monaco, Mbappé held direct talks with Jürgen Klopp. Fenway Sports Group head honcho John W. Henry famously even flew the family out to his private jet near the bay of Nice for a two-hour sit-down. At the time, it felt like the perfect “Moneyball” signing the club’s American owners salivate over: high potential, massive resale value, and a chance to build a legacy. Ultimately, the gravitational pull of his home country proved too strong, and he chose Paris Saint-Germain instead.
But the rumors never really died. If anything, the speculation only grew louder during his time in Paris, often fueled by a very public courtship. Back in September, the French outlet L’Equipe dropped a bombshell, claiming that just two years ago, Mbappé had actually reached a verbal agreement to join Liverpool. The reported plan was a short-term deal that would serve as a bridge, including a specific provision to eventually facilitate his dream move to the Bernabéu. It was a clever workaround to PSG’s stubborn refusal to do business with Real Madrid at the time. Of course, that all fell apart when PSG eventually twisted his arm to sign a two-year extension in 2022.
It all sounds like a fever dream, but the timing of certain events at Anfield during that spring suggests something bigger might have been brewing behind the scenes. In April 2022, Klopp surprised everyone by signing a two-year contract extension—even though his current deal wasn’t set to expire until 2024. Why the rush? At the time, the club was facing a massive crossroads with their iconic front three: Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino, and Sadio Mané were all nearing the final years of their contracts, and given their age, the owners were notoriously hesitant to break the bank for renewals.
When asked about the sudden extension, Klopp hinted that his commitment was about more than just his own tenure; he suggested it would “make sense” for the club’s transfer business that summer, signaling a period of aggressive recruitment.
While the Mbappe deal never materialized, the club’s appetite for high-stakes defensive reinforcements remained clear. More recently, Liverpool confirmed a major piece of business with the arrival of Jeremy Jacquet. The 20-year-old French defensive talent made the jump from Stade Rennes to Anfield for a fee hovering around 70 million euros, signing a five-year deal that keeps him in red until 2031. It was a statement move, beating out heavy interest from Chelsea to secure a player who looks set to anchor their backline for the next half-decade. It serves as a reminder that even when the “big” names slip through the fingers of the recruitment team, the engine at Anfield never stops hunting for the next breakout star.
