Liverpool: Kylian Mbappe could fill the Mane void
Liverpool are once again being linked to esteemed Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe, amid uncertainty surrounding the world-class forward’s long-term future in the French capital…
What’s the latest on Liverpool’s pursuit of Kylian Mbappe?
According to Football Insider, Reds owners FSG have ‘active interest’ in the forward and are ‘continuing to monitor’ his situation at PSG, following revelations from Mbappe himself last year that he discussed a prospective move with the powers that be at Anfield before committing his future to his outfit.
Mbappe said: “We talked a little bit, but not too much. I talked to Liverpool because it’s the favourite club of my mum, my mum loves Liverpool. I don’t know why, you will have to ask her.
“It’s a good club and we met them five years ago. When I was in Monaco I met them. It’s a big club. Of course, it was between Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain in the end.”
While a deal would likely be extortionate, such is his estimated valuation of £158m, Mbappe is one of the world’s leading strikers, and Jurgen Klopp must throw the kitchen sink at a deal.
Indeed, he could be one of the Premier League’s most devastating outlets in history if he were indeed to switch allegiances.
What would Mbappe’s signing mean for Liverpool?
Mbappe is a talent of the very first-rate, matched by few on the world scene, if any.
He burst onto the global stage with AS Monaco before his 18th birthday and played a major part in monumentally beating PSG to the Ligue 1 throne in 2016/17, before switching to the established powerhouse in France that summer.
Praised as an “alien” by Poland international Piotr Zielinski, the 24-year-old World Cup winner has plundered an incredible 198 goals and 94 assists from 245 appearances for PSG, also clinching 36 strikes from 66 showings for France.
If Liverpool were successful in their ambitious pursuit, the void left by Sadio Mane’s departure could finally be filled, with the dynamic forward departing for Bayern Munich in a £35m move last summer after an illustrious career with the Reds.
Having scored 120 goals and provided 48 assists from 269 outings for Liverpool, the Senegalese gem was integral in one of the club’s most prosperous spells in many years, notably winning the Champions League and Premier League among other major honours.
And with Mbappe ranking among the top 1% of forwards in Europe’s top five leagues for rate of goals and the top 2% for rate of assists, as per FBref, he certainly appears to be a player that would not only emulate Mane’s success but take the outfit to a level scarcely seen in the Premier League, also listed as a comparable player to the Munich monster by the statistical site.
Athletes of his ilk come around only once in a blue moon, and given the hundred-hued vibrancy of his skill set, he could indeed be a “work of art” – as dubbed by Fox Sport’s Rodolfo Landeros – under Klopp’s tutelage, forging a prosperous and shining future for one of football’s most prestigious outfits.
But given Liverpool’s stature, the long-term interest in the sensation and Mbappe’s contractual uncertainty with PSG, a move could materialise if the cogs fall sweetly into place.
And if they do, Liverpool’s trepidation over the forthcoming years of football would dissipate like a cloud of smoke, and prosperity would rain down on Merseyside in abundance once again.
