Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has laughed off suggestions that his side will make a move for Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe.
Mbappe’s PSG future remains unclear after the 24-year-old made it clear he did not want to extend his stay at the Ligue 1 champions beyond next summer, with the club previously saying they would not allow him to leave for free in that instance.
Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal have had a $330million (£257m) offer for Mbappe accepted but it remains to be seen if the Frenchman wishes to accept a contract there.
Liverpool are among a host of elite clubs to be linked with a move for Mbappe but are not considering a move for him.
“We laugh about it,” Klopp said on a potential deal. “I can say that I think he is a really good player. But the financial framework conditions don’t suit us at all.
“I would not like to destroy the story but as far as I know there is nothing to it. Maybe someone else from the club is preparing something and wants to surprise me!
“But this has not yet happened in the eight years I have been here. That would be the first time.”
Liverpool have so far brought in two players this summer, with Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai joining from Brighton & Hove Albion and RB Leipzig respectively.
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Mbappe’s future was plunged into doubt when he was left out of PSG’s pre-season tour and put up for sale in the latest escalation of his contract saga.
The France international’s current contract also includes provision for the club to pay him a bonus on August 1, though the sum, which is £60m before tax, is unlikely to be paid in one go.
Mbappe has the option to extend his deal at PSG beyond 2024 for a further year, however, the deadline for him to do so (July 31) is today.
Al Hilal’s world-record offer for Mbappe came last Monday, with PSG giving permission for the player to meet with them.
“We want him to stay but he can’t leave for free,” PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi said earlier this month. “It was our oral agreement and he had expressed it publicly in an interview. So it’s not debatable.
“I was really shocked to learn that he intended to leave for free. It’s very disappointing because Kylian is a fantastic boy, a real gentleman, and leaving for free, weakening the biggest French club, it’s not him. When I received this information, I was shocked and disappointed.
“That’s why he has to decide next week, or at most in two weeks. And if he doesn’t want to sign a new contract, the door is open. It’s like that for him and for everyone else. No one is bigger than the club, no player, not even me. It’s very clear.
“In football standards, you never see your best player leave the club for free. It never happens.”
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(Photo: Playmaker/MB Media/Getty Images)