Liverpool journalist Theo Squires has given his view on the idea of the club signing Kylian Mbappe at some point in the future.
The Frenchman has caused something of a stir recently at current club Paris Saint-Germain, with club president Leonardo going so far as to say: “Kylian Mbappe wants to leave, it seems clear to me” when speaking in a recent interview with French outlet RMC.
Spanish giants Real Madrid have made their feelings on the matter known by reportedly submitting a €160m (£137.3m) bid for his services, while an improved bid has apparently since been lodged.
Liverpool, meanwhile, have been long-time admirers of Mbappe, and even tried to buy him during his days at Monaco before his move to the French capital.
But times have moved on since then and Liverpool have spent these past few months signing up players from the core of their squad to long-term deals at Anfield. This is something that Squires, speaking on the Poetry in Motion: Blood Red podcast, feels that the signing of Mbappe would disrupt:
“If Mbappe’s having a little tantrum at PSG because he’s paid less than Neymar and Messi, who are on like half a million a week or something ridiculous like that, you can’t bring in a player like that, even if you could somehow put the transfer fee together, because that wage is just going to completely undermine everything Liverpool have done this summer by rewarding the loyal players, and completely undo all that hard work.”
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Squires is right with his assessment when it comes to how a transfer like this could affect the squad. Whilst Liverpool could potentially afford it, especially if they were to wait until next year when they could potentially sign him on a free transfer when his contract expires, there’s more to a deal like this than just the financial side.
With Jürgen Klopp having put together a pretty strong core of players that have served him so well during his journey at Liverpool so far and a team that has brought him so much success at the club, bringing in someone like Mbappe, who could cause disruption to that harmony with his wage demands, would be a pretty dangerous move to make.
So they can make a move for him if they want, but they would have to make sure that they do it in such a way that makes him part of the team rather than something of an outsider in the grand scheme of things.
In other news: ‘There’s been no noises’ – James Pearce reveals transfer update on Liverpool 26-year-old