Kylian Mbappé's Close Call with Liverpool

Kylian Mbappé standing in a red shirt at Anfield. It was closer than most people ever realised.

The France captain, now 27 and two years into his era at Real Madrid, has retraced the sliding-doors moment of his career and revealed he almost joined Liverpool before signing for Paris Saint-Germain from AS Monaco. And it all started at home.

"My mum's favourite destination was Liverpool; she wanted me to go there," Mbappé told The Athletic. That preference was strong enough to drag Liverpool into serious contention when the teenager was weighing up his future in Monaco.

There was more than a passing flirtation. Mbappé travelled far enough down the road to sit with Jürgen Klopp, a manager his mother adored and a coach he still speaks about with warmth.

"There was a time, when I was at Monaco, when I had to make a decision and I was close to joining Liverpool," he said. "My mum was a big fan of Jürgen Klopp, and he's an amazing manager. I met him and I have a wonderful relationship with him. I have great respect for him."

The pull of Anfield, Klopp’s charisma, the promise of the Premier League — it all lined up. For a moment, Liverpool looked like the club that might shape the next decade of European football around him.

Then Mbappé followed his heart.

"I didn't listen to (my mum). I wanted to go to my city, Paris. I wanted to play in my own country. I didn't want to leave my country."

That choice detonated a new era at PSG. Signed for €180 million, he became the face of the club and, in time, its greatest ever goalscorer. Across seven seasons in the capital, Mbappé scored 256 goals and supplied 110 assists in 308 appearances, ripping up record books while collecting a stack of domestic trophies with Les Rouge et Bleu.

Liverpool were left with the what-if. PSG got their superstar. Real Madrid now have the finished article.

And somewhere in that story sits a mother who once dreamed of seeing her son in Liverpool red.