Following on from outrageous claims that Liverpool had made a nine-figure transfer offer for Kylian Mbappe, another report has emerged to quickly dispel any sliver of a notion that such a move would be remotely realistic.
Journalist Edu Aguirre sent shockwaves when he told El Chiringuito TV (via Sport Witness) that the Reds had bid €200m (£170m) for the Paris Saint-Germain superstar, who’s apparently been put up for sale having entered the final year of his contract.
The reporter did stress that he doesn’t envisage the 24-year-old coming to Anfield as his dream is to ‘play for Real Madrid’, but his claim about that megabucks offer would’ve raised plenty of eyebrows nonetheless.
However, The Independent‘s Miguel Delaney has rapidly quelled any prospect of Mbappe moving to Merseyside, stating that ‘sources with knowledge of the situation were on Friday insistent that there was no bid from Liverpool, as any such move is simply beyond the club’s transfer plans.’
It was added that Arsenal would be the PSG forward’s ‘first preference’ if he were to become a Premier League player.
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Reports linking Mbappe with Liverpool have done the rounds for several years now, but it’s never seemed a realistic possibility.
Already the world’s second-most expensive footballer of all time following his €180m (£154m) move to PSG from Monaco (Transfermarkt), and reportedly earning almost £1.2m per week in Paris (Capology), such eye-watering figures would instantly render him out of reach financially for the Reds.
While there have been some significant outlays at Anfield under FSG, such as the capture of Darwin Nunez for a potential £85m (BBC Sport), their sustainable business model would render any genuine chance of signing the France captain impossible.
In any event, Jurgen Klopp already has plenty of potent riches in his forward line, so the thought of spending £170m on one more when Liverpool are still in the market for midfielders and defenders is fanciful, to put it politely.
A scorer of 279 goals at senior level across club and country before his 25th birthday (Transfermarkt), Mbappe is without question one of the world’s top footballers.
However, it’d surely be safe to assume that no Reds fan had him on their list of summer signings they’d realistically like to see at Anfield, with the focus of Jorg Schmadtke and the recruitment team geared towards players who’d actually be attainable.
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