Jürgen Klopp Reflects on Kylian Mbappé's Transfer Saga
On a humid night in Foxborough, with the floodlights cooling and the noise beginning to fade, Jürgen Klopp stood on the touchline and watched Kylian Mbappé jog through his warm-down. No technical area, no fourth official in his ear, no Kop roaring behind him. Just a coach between jobs, and the superstar he once tried so hard to bring to Anfield.
Klopp is in the United States as a MagentaTV pundit, but this was no ordinary post-match assignment. France had just beaten Morocco in the quarter-finals, Mbappé scoring in a win that carried Les Bleus into the last four. As the players drifted towards the tunnel, Klopp and Mbappé crossed paths and embraced, a brief reunion that said plenty about a transfer story that never was.
A few moments later, Klopp lifted an arm and waved towards the stands, acknowledging Mbappé’s mother. It was a small gesture, but it pulled him straight back to 2017 and one of the most audacious – and ultimately futile – transfer missions of his Liverpool reign.
He did not hide the sting. Speaking on air, Klopp admitted the frustration that still lingers from his attempts to raid the French talent pool.
"It's extremely tough for me right now," he said. "I've already negotiated with three of their players and never got them."
The list is a brutal one for Liverpool fans: Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé, Adrien Rabiot. Three elite Frenchmen, three deals that never crossed the line.
With Mbappé, Klopp revealed, Liverpool went undercover. This was not a routine meeting at Melwood or a quiet sit-down in a city hotel. This was cloak-and-dagger.
Liverpool’s hierarchy chartered a private jet out of Blackpool, bound for Nice, determined to stay invisible. No leaks, no photos, no whispers on social media. Just Klopp, his pitch, and a teenager on the brink of superstardom.
"With Mbappe, it was before he went to Paris," Klopp recalled. "That was roughly €500 million, the most expensive non-transfer we've ever made.
"We flew from Blackpool to Nice. In Nice, the whole Mbappe family boarded a private jet with five cabins. 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."
It is classic Klopp: self-deprecating, sharp, but underpinned by a genuine sense of what might have been. Liverpool rolled out a private jet, circled above the French coast, shared food and conversation in complete secrecy – and still lost out.
Mbappé chose Paris Saint-Germain, a €180 million move that turned him into the face of a superclub. Liverpool, who would go on to win the Champions League and Premier League under Klopp, were left to imagine what their attack might have looked like with the French prodigy alongside Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané.
The story has taken its own twists since. Mbappé’s years at PSG brought goals and titles, but also internal rivalries with Lionel Messi and Neymar that often threatened to overshadow the football. He has since taken the step many expected, joining Real Madrid to chase the one prize that continues to elude him: the Champions League trophy.
In this alternate reality, it is PSG who have twice lifted European club football’s biggest prize in the two years since Mbappé’s departure, while the 27-year-old is still waiting for his own moment with Madrid.
Klopp, meanwhile, has stepped away from the daily grind of club management. After announcing his decision to leave Liverpool in 2024, he has thrown himself into media work, recharging while the game continues to swirl around him. His sabbatical, though, already feels like a pause rather than an end.
At 59, he is closing in on the next chapter. All signs point towards him taking over from Julian Nagelsmann as Germany’s national team coach once the tournament in the United States comes to a close. The man who built a dynasty at Anfield looks destined to lead his country into a new era.
On the pitch in Foxborough, the present belonged to Mbappé. His goal against Morocco pushed France into the semi-finals and underlined his status as the leader of this Les Bleus generation. Whatever the noise around his club career, his focus here is singular: drag France as far as he can.
On the touchline, Klopp watched with that familiar intensity, only this time with his hands in his pockets rather than directing a high press. He knows exactly how close he came to building a team around Mbappé. He also knows football rarely bends to even the best-laid plans.
One is chasing a first Champions League with Real Madrid and another major trophy with France. The other is waiting to take charge of his country after reshaping a giant of English football.
They shared a hug in Foxborough. The rest of the story, for both of them, will be written somewhere else.
