Kylian Mbappé spoke about the high-profile courtship he had with Liverpool a few years ago—one that could have redrawn the entire European soccer landscape!

The French superstar of Real Madrid was a guest on “Athletic” and revealed that he was just a breath away from signing with the “Reds” when he was still a player for Monaco, with his mother being in love with the city of Merseyside and “Anfield”!

Among other things, he mentioned that he had great respect for Jürgen Klopp and the British club’s style of play, however, he preferred Paris Saint-Germain and staying in France, wanting to “build” a significant career before heading abroad.

Here’s what he said:

“I was close to joining Liverpool. My mom was a big fan of Jürgen Klopp, and her favorite destination was Liverpool. She wanted me to go there!

I didn’t listen to her because I wanted to play in my hometown, Paris. I didn’t want to leave my country before I’d made a name for myself. But yeah, my mom always used to say, ‘Liverpool—you’ll go there, you’ll play at Anfield, it’ll be amazing for you.”

She went there for the first round of negotiations. She went to the city, to the stadium, and met the people. She’d say, “It’s a wonderful club, everyone’s so kind, it’s a family-oriented club, a great club.”

She went to Anfield and fell in love with it. She watched a few games on her own, to get a feel for the atmosphere, because she wanted to picture me in that stadium.

We were talking the whole time, and I kept saying, “Okay, okay, okay!” because Jürgen Klopp was an incredible coach. I met him, and we had a wonderful relationship. I respected him a lot.”

*photo source: AP