For years, Liverpool has been connected with Kylian Mbappé, and the French superstar was told by PSG last summer that he could go on one condition

Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain superstar Kylian Mbappé were linked together for years.

Mbappé received one of Jürgen Klopp’s famous ‘hugs’ when the two sides met in the Champions League in 2018, and since then rumors have always abounded that the manager wants to take the Frenchman to Anfield. Mbappé also admitted that he has twice talked to Liverpool over a move (via The Telegraph), both before and after his switch to PSG.

Yet a deal never really seemed likely, always just out of reach. In latter years, Mbappé’s gigantic wages have been seen as the stumbling block to any potential deal, even as his contract in the French capital wound down and it looked as though he could leave for nothing last summer.

According to The Athletic, however, the prospect of Liverpool was raised even after Mbappé signed his extension with PSG in May. The player signed a new deal through to 2025, albeit with an apparent option to leave in 2024, but apparently ended up searching for a way out almost immediately.

Real Madrid, of course, has been most credited with transfer interest. But PSG has been involved in a power struggle, hence an apparent ultimatum that Mbappé could leave — but only to Liverpool, the sole other option on the table.

Even then, there was the not exactly minor stumbling block that PSG wanted a transfer fee of $431m (£352m/€400m) to grant Mbappé his exit.

Of course, Liverpool was never going to be able to afford this, let alone his mammoth wages. Although interestingly, it was reportedly Mbappé who ultimately rejected this option.

It’s an intriguing game of cat and mouse between Mbappé and PSG, with Real Madrid clearly in the middle of this tug-of-war. It also remains odd that PSG should use Liverpool as bait, almost implying that the six-time champion of Europe isn’t at the same power table as PSG and Madrid.

No doubt the Mbappé-Madrid-PSG saga will take more twists and turns over the next year or more. And it would be no surprise to see Liverpool’s name mentioned again before the tale is through.

source: https://www.liverpool.com/