Liverpool’s reported desire to sign Kylian Mbappe should lead them towards appointing Zinedine Zidane as Jurgen Klopp’s replacement. The Reds, who have trailed Real Madrid in the race to sign Mbappe for several years, could finally hand themselves an advantage by luring Zidane to Anfield.
Mbappe remains undecided on whether he will leave Paris Saint-Germain in the summer. His contract expires at the end of June, with the French club desperate to tie him down to another deal.
Madrid have not given up hope of attracting the France international to the Spanish capital. Mbappe’s future could be one of the sagas of the summer transfer window.
Liverpool will fancy their chances of signing the 25-year-old attacker, even with Klopp departing at the end of the season. Appointing Zidane over the likes of Xabi Alonso, Ruben Amorim or Roberto De Zerbi could give Liverpool a helping hand in their pursuit of Mbappe.
Zidane is a huge fan of Mbappe, with the admiration reciprocated by the prolific forward. The former Real Madrid head coach has previously admitted that he wants to manage Mbappe one day.
“When you’re a manager and there is a player like him, of course, you’d want to manage him,” Zidane told L’Equipe. “Lots of things can happen. It could happen one day. He is a player that wears the France shirt well. In any case, I admire what he does. He’s beautiful, strong.”
Twelve months ago, Mbappe defended Zidane following perceived criticism from the then president of the France Football Federation, Noel Le Graet. Le Graet said he would not care if Zidane took the Brazilian national team job, with which he had been linked, and said he would not pick up the phone if the former France captain had tried to call him about replacing Didier Deschamps.
Hailing Zidane as a ‘legend’, Mbappe posted on X: “Zidane is France, you don’t disrespect a legend like that.”
