'He likes Liverpool' - Mbappe to Real Madrid not a done deal yet

Stuart Telford

• 8 Sept 2023 16:30 BST
• 3 min read

Liverpool have a 'head-start' on other Premier League clubs once Kylian Mbappe is available on a free transfer next summer, according to a French journalist close to the situation.

Real Madrid remain red-hot favourites to sign Mbappe once his Paris Saint-Germain contract is up next summer, but his current employers are also working to tie him down to a new deal that would still guarantee his sale in 2024.

Mbappe is valued at €137 million by FootballTransfers' in-house algorithm, and if PSG have to lose him, they will try and do so for a significant sum.

READ: 'Signing Mbappe was a possibility' admits Real Madrid star

Madrid have broken the transfer record four times since the turn of the millennium - on Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale - but might be unable to do so again should the need arise. But Liverpool are in a good position.

'Liverpool have to put a case forward'

"Real Madrid are still the outstanding favourite, of course, for next summer already," Le Parisien journalist Julien Laurens told ESPN.

"I think Liverpool have a case to put forward, especially if he's a free agent. Every big club in England should go for him and he will choose where he feels is best for him. His mum is a big fan of Liverpool, he likes Liverpool, he likes what Liverpool have done under Jurgen Klopp.

READ: Mbappe and five stars Liverpool could sign to replace Salah

"Maybe they have a little head-start, not over Real Madrid, but over other English clubs, [Man] City, Arsenal, [Manchester] United, Chelsea, Spurs. There's a lot of money to pay his wages and a signing on fee, if they had the money or some sort of proposal for him, he would certainly listen."

Mbappe was frozen out of the PSG first-team picture for their pre-season tour of Asia and first game back in Ligue 1, but has since returned to score five goals in three games, only two of them starts.