Kylian Mbappé scored again in a dominant 2-0 victory over Morocco at World Cup quarter-finals, making now eight goals this competition, despite missing a penalty earlier. After the match, he saluted Jurgen Klopp, who attended the match at the Boston Stadium, and is heavily rumoured to be Germany's next head coach succeeding Julian Nagelsmann.
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The embrace, conversation and laughs between the French player and German coach surprised some, as they had never worked together before. And moments later, Klopp talked to Magenta TV and revealed a story: the lengths he went when he, as Liverpool head coach, tried to sign Mbappé... back in 2017!
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Klopp revealed it was "most expensive non-transfer we invested in". He told that, in 2017, when Mbappé, who was a rising star at 19 years old, was looking for a new club after leaving Monaco, Liverpool asked Klopp to convince him to join the club. And they flew a private jet, from Blackpool to Nice, where Kylian and his entire family boarded the plane.
To go where? Nowhere: they flew in circles, talking, eating good food... because they couldn't be seen together to avoid leaks to the press. After a few hours in the air, Mbappé and his family left... and the player ended up joining Paris Saint-Germain. Despite the waste of time and money, Klopp doesn't hold any grudge with the now Real Madrid player. "He was great, but he ended up going to Paris".