Klopp’s €500m Non-Transfer: The Secret Jet and Mbappé’s Choice

Jürgen Klopp stood on the touchline in Foxborough with a microphone in his hand and a knot in his throat. No dugout, no technical area, no fourth official to harangue – just the former Liverpool manager in his new role as MagentaTV expert, watching Kylian Mbappé glide through his warm-up for France.

Then came the moment. Mbappé drifted over, the pair exchanged a warm embrace, and Klopp lifted an arm in recognition towards the striker’s mother in the stands. It was a small gesture, but it carried the weight of a transfer that never was.

The one that got away

Seeing Mbappé in full flight again stirred old frustrations Klopp has never quite shaken. He has chased plenty of stars in his career, but some near-misses leave a deeper mark than others.

"It's extremely tough for me right now," he admitted. "I've already negotiated with three of their players and never got them."

The three? Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé, Adrien Rabiot. Three pillars of a French generation Klopp tried to bring to Anfield and never managed to land. The sight of them now driving Les Bleus into the latter stages of another major tournament only sharpened the sense of what might have been.

A private jet, five cabins, and total secrecy

Klopp then lifted the curtain on just how far Liverpool went in 2017 to lure Mbappé before Paris Saint‑Germain closed the deal.

"With Mbappe, it was before he went to Paris. That was roughly €500 million, the most expensive non-transfer we've ever made," he said, half laughing at the scale of it, half still stung by the outcome.

Liverpool’s hierarchy, working with Klopp, set up what amounted to a covert operation. They chartered a private jet from Blackpool to Nice, keeping the entire mission away from the media’s radar. No leaks. No airport photos. No whispers.

"We flew from Blackpool to Nice," Klopp recalled. "In Nice, the whole Mbappé 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."

The image is almost surreal: Klopp and Liverpool executives circling high above the French Riviera, dining with the Mbappé family in a five‑cabin jet, selling a vision of Anfield and a project built around a teenage phenomenon. All the charm, all the planning, all the expense – and, in the end, no signature.

Paris, rivals, and a new chapter in Madrid

Mbappé chose PSG, a €180 million transfer that sent shockwaves through Europe and left Liverpool to wonder how close they had come. In France, he became the face of the club, but his time in Paris was never straightforward.

Internal rivalries with Lionel Messi and Neymar complicated the picture, big personalities jostling for space in the same dressing room and the same forward line. Goals flowed, trophies followed, yet the one prize Mbappé craves above all – the Champions League – stayed out of reach.

Now 27 and wearing the white of Real Madrid, he has reset the story. New league, new dressing room, same towering expectations. He remains one of the defining players of his generation, but the question still hangs over him: when will he finally lift Europe’s biggest club trophy?

Adding a twist to the narrative, PSG have gone on to win the Champions League twice in the two years since his departure, a brutal counterpoint to his personal pursuit of that title.

Klopp between touchline and touch paper

Klopp, meanwhile, has stepped out of the Anfield glare, at least temporarily. After deciding to leave Liverpool in 2024, he has allowed himself a rare pause, embracing the relative calm of punditry while the football world speculates about his next move.

Calm, though, is never permanent around Klopp. The 59‑year‑old is widely expected to take over from Julian Nagelsmann as Germany’s national team coach once the current major tournament in the United States comes to an end. From club icon to national figurehead – it feels like the natural next step.

For now, he watches. He analyses. He tells stories of jets from Blackpool, secret meetings over the Mediterranean, and the deals that slipped away.

Mbappé’s present, Klopp’s future

On the pitch in Foxborough, Mbappé has no time for nostalgia. His goal against Morocco in the quarter-final helped push France into the semi-finals, another step in a tournament that he wants to dominate, another platform to underline his status as the leader of Les Bleus.

He is focused on the here and now, on dragging France towards another final, another shot at history.

Klopp, just a few yards away, stands in a different kind of in-between: no longer Liverpool’s heartbeat, not yet Germany’s. Watching Mbappé, remembering the flight, the five cabins, the “most expensive non-transfer” of his career, he can only wonder how different both of their paths might have been.

The next time they meet, will it be as rival coach and superstar forward on international football’s biggest stage?