Jurgen Klopp Reflects on Kylian Mbappe's Missed Transfer
Jurgen Klopp leans on the advertising hoardings in Foxborough, a TV microphone in his hand and a knot in his stomach. Out on the pitch, Kylian Mbappe jogs through his warm‑up, the familiar bounce in his stride. The cameras follow France’s captain. Klopp watches something else: the life that might have been.
The former Liverpool manager, now working as an expert for MagentaTV, had just seen Mbappe fire France past Morocco in the quarter-finals. As the final whistle noise faded and the stadium emptied into the New England night, Klopp made his way towards the touchline, where a brief reunion with the French superstar awaited.
They shared a moment. Then Klopp lifted his arm and waved towards the stands, a small, almost private gesture to Mbappe’s mother. It was a simple greeting loaded with history, the echo of a transfer that never happened.
The one that got away
Klopp has chased plenty of players in his career. Few have left a mark on him like Mbappe. Or, for that matter, Ousmane Dembele and Adrien Rabiot. All three, all French, all once within reach. None of them ever walked out at Anfield in red.
"It's extremely tough for me right now. I've already negotiated with three of their players and never got them," he admitted, half-laughing, half-wincing as he revisited the story on air.
The frustration runs deeper than a missed signing. It carries the memory of one of the most audacious, secretive operations Liverpool ever mounted in the transfer market.
A €500m “non-transfer”
Back in 2017, before Mbappe chose Paris, Liverpool threw everything at the teenager from Monaco. Not just money. Imagination.
Klopp revealed how far the club went to keep their pursuit hidden. Liverpool’s hierarchy chartered a private jet out of Blackpool, of all places, bound for Nice. No fanfare, no leaks, no chance encounters at an airport terminal. Discretion was the entire point.
"With Mbappe, it was before he went to Paris. That was roughly €500 million, the most expensive non-transfer we've ever made," Klopp said.
They flew under the radar, literally and figuratively. In Nice, the whole Mbappe family boarded a private jet with five cabins. No prying eyes, no reporters, just Klopp, his staff, and the most coveted young forward in Europe, high above the French coast.
They didn’t even fly from A to B. They flew in circles.
"In Nice, the whole Mbappe family boarded a private jet with five cabins. Then we flew around in circles and had a delicious meal. We weren't allowed to be seen. It was great – and then he went to Paris."
That last line lands like a punchline and a punch to the gut. The charm offensive, the secrecy, the expense – all of it ended with Mbappe choosing a €180 million move to Paris Saint-Germain. Liverpool were left with the story and the bill for what Klopp now calls their “most expensive non-transfer.”
Paris, tension and a new chapter
Mbappe’s choice shaped modern European football. He became the face of PSG, the poster boy for a club built on superstar power. Yet his time there never ran smoothly.
The forward line of Mbappe, Lionel Messi and Neymar looked like fantasy football. Inside the dressing room, it often felt more like a power struggle. Internal rivalries chipped away at the project. The football dazzled at times, but the harmony never quite matched the hype.
Mbappe moved on. Now 27, he has turned the page at Real Madrid, stepping into a club that measures greatness in European Cups. For all his goals, for all the Ballon d’Or talk that has followed him for years, one target still sits unclaimed: the Champions League trophy.
In this retelling, another detail twists the knife. While Mbappe chases that elusive first title with Madrid, PSG – in this version of events – have gone on to lift the Champions League twice in the two years since he left. The club he outgrew finally cracked Europe after he walked away.
Klopp’s next touchline
Klopp, meanwhile, has his own new chapter coming. After deciding to step down from Liverpool in 2024, he has spent this tournament on the other side of the white line, analysing rather than orchestrating, his charisma redirected through a TV lens.
The sabbatical will not last. At 59, he is poised for one of the biggest roles of his career. Once the major tournament in the United States concludes, he is on the verge of replacing Julian Nagelsmann as Germany’s national team coach. A different kind of pressure awaits: no transfer windows, no private jets, just the responsibility of a footballing nation.
For now, though, he remains a pundit with a manager’s heart, watching players he once courted carry the hopes of their country.
Mbappe is one of them. His goal against Morocco has pushed France into the semi-finals, his focus locked on leading Les Bleus deeper into the competition. On nights like this, with a place in the final within reach and the world watching, Klopp can only stand on the sideline and wonder.
What if that plane from Blackpool had changed his mind?
