---
title: "Liverpool signing Mbappe this summer is pure ‘fantasy’, claims Aldridge"
canonical: "https://readliverpoolfc.com/news/liverpool-signing-mbappe-this-summer-is-pure-fantasy-claims-aldridge/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Henry Jackson"
section: "Articles"
published: "2020-02-11T07:00:00Z"
modified: "2020-02-11T07:00:00Z"
---

# Liverpool signing Mbappe this summer is pure ‘fantasy’, claims Aldridge

Talk of Liverpool signing Kylian Mbappe this summer is nothing more than ‘fantasy’, according to ex-Reds striker John Aldridge.

The 21-year-old has been [linked](https://readliverpoolfc.com/2019/12/10/mbappe-reportedly-unhappy-at-psg-amid-liverpool-links/) with Liverpool in the past, but Real Madrid are [favourites](https://readliverpoolfc.com/2020/02/06/journalist-claims-mbappe-has-agreed-terms-with-real-madrid/) to snap him up this summer.

Mbappe is enjoying another excellent season for Paris Saint-Germain, [scoring 15 goals in as many Ligue 1 starts](https://www.whoscored.com/Players/300713/Show/Kylian-Mbapp%C3%A9) this season.

Writing for the *[Irish Independent](https://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/premier-league/how-can-liverpool-improve-on-near-perfection-two-or-three-transfer-targets-could-take-reds-even-further-38939515.html)*, Aldridge laughed off the idea of the Frenchman playing for Liverpool, saying it simply isn’t plausible:

> Any thought of the brilliant Mbappe coming to Anfield is fantasy, even though the French World Cup winner has spoken highly of Klopp and Liverpool in recent interviews.

> Despite inflating the wage bill in recent years – as the likes of Alisson, Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah have signed lucrative contracts – Liverpool are still not paying the kind of monopoly money Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, and even Manchester United, hand out.

> If the reports are to be believed, Salah earns around £200,000 a week in a wage set-up that is structured around a big bonus pool for success, with last season’s Champions League win and domestic performances boosting that income.

> That’s still a long way short of the £350,000 a week Paul Pogba is allegedly being paid to be a nuisance at Manchester United, or the crazy £550,000-a-week deal Gareth Bale is enjoying at Real Madrid, so there is no chance a player of Mbappe’s market value would take a pay-cut to join Liverpool when he could probably get £600,000 a week at Real Madrid.

> In addition, one of the big reasons why this Liverpool team is so successful is the team spirit Klopp has built, and if someone like Mbappe came in with a big ego and on huge wages, the harmony could be upset.

### Read Liverpool Verdict

I completely agree with Aldridge, with the Mbappe links very hard to take seriously.

That’s because of the vast price tag Liverpool would need to pay for him – one that would easily eclipse the [club record](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/42496637)amount of £75 million they paid for Virgil van Dijk in 2018.

If money was no issue, the striker would be my number one signing for Liverpool this summer, considering his incredible potential and current standing as [one of the world’s best players](https://www.lequipe.fr/Football/Actualites/Le-classement-complet-du-ballon-d-or-france-football-2019/1086014). In reality, however, the Reds probably can’t afford him and it’s difficult to see the club’s owners shattering the current transfer and wage policies for any player, given that the current system has already yielded such excellent results.