Kylian Mbappe has confirmed he defied his mum’s wishes to sign for Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool in 2017.
The France captain burst onto the scene with AS Monaco as a 16-year-old in 2015, with Europe’s big hitters already circling for his signature.
Two-years later, Liverpool were poised to lure the starlet to Anfield but faced competition from Real Madrid and Mbappe’s hometown club Paris Saint-Germain.
If the decision had been down to his mum and agent Fayza Lamari, then Mbappe would have been lacing up his boots for the Reds.
But Mbappe had other ideas despite having held a meeting with Klopp on board a private jet over the south of France in 2017.
The plane took off from Blackpool before landing in Nice where Klopp met with Mbappe and his mother.
Klopp then spent several hours mid-air trying to persuade Mbappe to sign for Liverpool rather than a move back to home city Paris.
“It was while I was playing in Monaco, I had to take a decision. And yes, I was close to Liverpool,” Mbappe recalled in an interview with The Athletic (via talkSPORT).
“My mum was a big fan of Jurgen Klopp and the favourite destination for my mum was Liverpool. She wanted me to go there.
Also Read: France Legend Labels Mbappe ‘Childish’ Over Ballon d’Or Claim
“I didn’t listen because I wanted to play in my city, Paris. I didn’t want to leave my country before I was someone.
“But yes, my mum was always saying ‘Liverpool – you’re going to be there, playing at Anfield, it’s going to be insane for you.’ I was like, ‘OK!’
“She went there (for) the first step of the negotiations. She went to the city, she went to the stadium, she met the people. She was like, ‘It’s a wonderful club, everybody’s so kind, it’s a family club, a big club.’
“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.
“All the time we were talking. ‘What do you think, Mum?’. She’d say, ‘For me, you have to go to Liverpool. I said, ‘OK, OK, OK!’ because Jurgen Klopp was an amazing manager. I met him and had a wonderful relationship with him. I had big respect for him.”
