Jurgen Klopp has refused to confirm whether Liverpool made contact with “great player” Kylian Mbappe over a summer transfer to Anfield.
The France star looks all set to leave Paris Saint-Germain this summer with his contract set to expire. Real Madrid are favourites to sign the 23-year-old, with Marca and The Athletic reporting an agreement is in place.
But Liverpool were said to be interested in the player again this summer. L’Equipe suggested Liverpool could revive the interest they had previously in Mbappe in 2021.
And Klopp has admitted as much, but he refused to confirm whether the club had made an approach for the attacker.
“Of course we are interested in Kylian Mbappe, we are not blind!” Klopp said on Monday.
He was then asked if Liverpool have made direct contact with Mbappe.
“Actually nothing to say about that. Between Kylian and Liverpool, it’s all set. It’s all fine,” said Klopp. “We of course like him, if we didn’t like him we’d have to question ourselves.
“But we are not, we cannot, be part of these battles.
“There must be other clubs involved but that’s fine. He’s still a great player.”
The relationship between Mbappe and Klopp and Liverpool is an intriguing one.
According to L’Equipe, Klopp spent “several hours” trying to convince the star to join the club in 2017. And from that meeting he is said to have a “direct line” to the player.
And back in 2020, Mbappe told the BBC: “What Liverpool do in this moment is amazing.
“They’re like a machine, they’ve found a rhythm and are like we play again, we play again. They’ve lost zero games. When you watch you think everything is easy but that’s not easy.”
However, it looks as though a line has been drawn under any potential Mbappe deal to Liverpool.
Mbappe transfer cost
Even with Mbappe being available on a free transfer, the wage demands and signing on fee would price Liverpool out of a move.
The Times claim Mbappe would earn around £25m a year at Madrid on top of payments to his representatives.
Those personal terms have been agreed, as per The Athletic, although the paperwork has not yet been signed.
Mbappe has scored 168 goals in 216 games for PSG, having joined them in 2017 from Monaco. And his value on the open market would be around £200m.
Indeed PSG rejected two offers from Real Madrid last summer, both were believed to be in excess of £150m.
Now PSG look set to lose the player for free, despite holding recent talks with Mbappe’s mother over a contract extension.
Mbappe visited Madrid last week on a day off. He was seen eating lunch in a famous restaurant in the Spanish capital with his PSG team-mate and Madrid-born Achraf Hakimi.
Mbappe has said he has made up his mind over his next destination.
“It will be known very soon, it’s almost done,” Mbappe said on Sunday night. “My decision is made, yes, almost. Why was I so slow? You have to respect all parties.”
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