​Former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has shed light on what he described as the club’s “most expensive non-transfer” during their pursuit of Kylian Mbappe from Monaco in the summer of 2017. With Europe’s elite clubs vying for the then-18-year-old amid reports that he wished to leave Ligue 1, Klopp led a discreet club delegation to the south of France in an effort to persuade Mbappe to move to Anfield. Despite their clandestine efforts, the plan did not come to fruition, as Mbappe ultimately joined Paris Saint-Germain on loan and then made the move permanent the following year for £153 million, before transferring to Real Madrid seven years later where he became the club’s all-time top scorer.
“The most expensive non-transfer we (Liverpool) invested in. We flew from Blackpool to Nice. In Nice, the entire Mbappe family boarded a private jet with five rooms or something,” Klopp told Magenta TV, where he is currently working during the World Cup. “We really pulled out all the stops. Then we flew around in circles, talking with the family, enjoying good food (on the plane). We had to stay hidden. We flew in a circular route. It was brilliant. And then he went to Paris.”
Mbappe has continued to mark his superb form on the world stage, currently sitting atop the World Cup goalscoring charts after scoring again against Morocco to help France reach the semi-finals.