Mbappé reveals his near move to Liverpool and mother's wishes
Kylian Mbappé has lifted the lid on just how close he came to joining Liverpool as a teenager, revealing that his mother was desperate to see him in front of the Kop before he chose Paris.
Speaking to The Athletic, the France captain described a decisive summer in 2017, when his future narrowed to two paths: Anfield or Paris-Saint Germain.
At 18, already exploding onto the scene with Monaco, Mbappé sat down with Jurgen Klopp on a private jet over the south of France. It was no routine chat. It was Liverpool’s pitch to make him the centrepiece of their new era.
His mother and agent, Fayza Lamari, was there too – and she did not hide where her heart lay.
"It was while I was playing in Monaco. I had to take a decision. And yes, I was close to Liverpool," Mbappé said. "My mum was a big fan of Jurgen Klopp and the favourite destination for my mum was Liverpool. She wanted me to go there."
Lamari did more than just talk. She flew to Liverpool, walked through Anfield, and tried to picture her son in red.
"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," Mbappé recalled.
Her verdict was emphatic.
"She was like, 'It's a wonderful club, everybody's so kind, it's a family club, a big club.'
The conversations at home became relentless. Mbappé would ask: "What do you think, Mum?" The answer rarely changed. "For me, you have to go to Liverpool."
Klopp, for his part, made a strong impression. Mbappé described the former Liverpool manager as "an amazing manager" and said he had "a wonderful relationship" with him and "big respect" for the German after their meeting.
Klopp himself later spoke about that summit in the sky, telling Magenta TV earlier this year that the trip – a journey from Blackpool to Nice to sit down with the teenager – was "the most expensive non-transfer we ever made."
Liverpool had the charm, the atmosphere, the manager and the backing of Mbappé’s mother. They did not have the one thing that ultimately mattered most: Paris.
"I didn't listen because I wanted to play in my city, Paris," Mbappé admitted. "I didn't want to leave my country before I was someone."
So he chose PSG. First on loan for the 2017-18 season, then permanently the following year. He stayed in the French capital until his move to Real Madrid in 2024, becoming the face of the club and of Ligue 1 along the way.
"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 home town," he said.
Liverpool were left with a story of what might have been. Mbappé, instead, wrote his legend in Paris before heading to Madrid – but the image of him in front of the Kop, the one his mother fell in love with, will always linger as one of football’s great near-misses.
