Mbappe trains with PSG ahead of Newcastle clash
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp would have two key factors helping his cause if the Reds attempt to sign Kylian Mbappe from Paris Saint-Germain. The Frenchman’s signature may be up for grabs in the summer as his contract winds down, and long-term suitors Real Madrid have reportedly blown the transfer race wide open.
Los Blancos were expected to welcome Mbappe to the Bernabeu last summer, only for the forward to sensationally backtrack and sign a mega-money extension at the Parc des Princes instead.
Despite PSG’s best efforts, Mbappe looks set to finally leave the French capital at the end of the season, with his lucrative deal due to expire in June. The 24-year-old has bagged over 200 first-team goals for the Parisians and would be on the wish list of virtually every top club in Europe if money permitted.
According to Spanish outlet Carrusel Deportivo, Real Madrid have ‘definitively ruled out’ pushing for Mbappe due to the financial commitments that would form part of the deal.
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Forking out for Mbappe’s wages would require a distinct change in approach from Liverpool, but Klopp has two trump cards to play which could lower the forward’s demands.
First of all, the Reds manager’s interest is genuine and long-standing. Way back in 2017, when Mbappe was an up-and-comer with AS Monaco, Klopp met with the player and his camp to discuss a potential move to Anfield.
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“We talked a little bit, but not too much,” Mbappe told The Telegraph last year. “It’s a good club and we met them five years ago. When I was in Monaco I met them. It’s a big club.”
The French international would surely be enticed by the prospect of working under a manager who has admired him for years. Klopp himself made that clear shortly after Mbappe’s comments surfaced, saying: “Of course we are interested in Kylian Mbappe, we are not blind! Actually nothing to say about that. Between Kylian and Liverpool, it’s all set. It’s all fine. 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 Reds’ second trump card involves support from within Mbappe’s camp. The World Cup winner’s mother is a lifelong Liverpool fan, as he explained: “I talked to Liverpool because it’s the favourite club of my mum, my mum loves Liverpool. I don’t know why, you will have to ask her!”
With Real out of the equation, Liverpool are one of the front-runners to lure Mbappe away from PSG, and his circumstances allow clubs outside of Ligue 1 to begin pre-contractual negotiations in January.
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