KYLIAN MBAPPE STORY.
So, Klopp joined LFC on 2015, and upon his appointment, he sat down with FSG (Henry and Werner)/Head of Scout department (Dave Fallows)/Technical analysis director (Mike Edwards), he presented his plans and ideas zitakazosaidia kuirejesha Club katika ubora wake, mwisho kabisa, he presented majina ya wachezaji anaowahitaji for his project, the main aim and priority was to get young players in, as many as possible ili kutengeneza a generational team, so among the names ambazo Klopp ali-present, Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele walikuwepo kwenye list. (but we'll deal with Mbappe's part for now).
Remember, this was back in 2015, Mbappe was only 16 at that time (if am not mistaken), and he wasnt even widely known by many football experts around the world, as he was yet to showcase his mad talent mbele ya dunia, because Monaco were still waiting for the right time to introduce him to the world.
So, baada ya scouts kufahamishwa kuhusu Mbappe na Klopp, they started to do an extensive scouting procedure on the kid, then January TW of 2016 arrived, but we didnt make any approach, as we were waiting mpaka summer. and just like that, when summer's TW arrived, we made our first move, asking for his availability to Monaco, but unfortunately, Monaco rejected our approach, reason ikiwa walikuwa wanatarajia kumpa nafasi kubwa sana kwenye kikosi kwa msimu wa 2016/17, as was expected by Monaco/Klopp and our scouting department, this was the best season for Mbappe as he was introducing himself to the world, now it wasnt just us and Arsenal (Oh yes Wenger found him kabla yetu), biggest clubs around Europe wakaanza kujaza scouts wao kwenye games za Monaco, the kid was already a star tayari and just like any other talented baller, he was ready for the next move.
In the summer of 2017, Klopp decided to give a shot, remember this time around, Monaco told us he was AVAILABLE, so Klopp did kama alivyofanya kwa VVD, though haikuwa BLACKPOOL, but ilikuwa ni FRANCE, he travelled to FRANCE, akakutana na Mbappe pamoja na wazazi wake, our Alcoholic Nazi, did what he does best (selling his ideas), at the end, the kid and his parents loved our project and they gave us a GREEN-LIGHT (especially Kylian Mbappe, the Kid fell in love with Klopp, i'd say), so kazi ikabaki kwa Edwards na FSG, to try and negotiate with Monaco, they quoted us at 100m, Edwards akarudi kwanza Liverpool kuvuta pumzi, because the showdown of negotiation was about to begin, but few days later, news zikaanza kutoka from France kuwa, PSG, will sign the kid on loan kwa fee ya 100m and it will rise mpaka 160m (if am not mistaken) deal itakapokuwa permanent after a season, so as any other big club, tukatuma spies kwenye kambi za Monaco na PSG, ili kujua credibility ya hizo habari and internal details za makubaliano kati ya ya PSG na Mbappe's camp, majibu yakaja kuwa, its true PSG were offering that sorta amount and Monaco gave them a straight yes, and Mbappe and his family walikuwa pia wamepewa a massive offer interms of wages and bonuses/membership advancements. Man, we were thinking of offering Monaco 65m maximum (i repeat MAXIMUM). with standard wages as the kid was just 17 at that time. but baada ya internal details za PSG/MONACO and Mbappe's camp kufahamika, FSG wakaona hawatoweza kushindana na PSG kwa wakati ule, as Klopp wanted more than 2 players kwenye ile TW, so wakakaa na Klopp, he told them its ok, (remember at this time tulikuwa tunahangaishana na Southampton kuhusu VVD, and it was a big money move pia), i bet at this time they (FSG and Edwards) were both looking at him (klopp) ili kujua whats next, dont know, but i think Klopp atakuwa aliwaambia, "look, remember when we failed to sign Ousmanne Dembele? ...and we decided to go kwa 2nd choice, guess who? SADIO MANE". so the club started working kuhusiana na 2nd choice player (to Mbappe), ambaye alikuwa suggested by Klopp and it was JULIAN BRANDT, but the kid turned us down so quick, as he wanted to further his career in German (Weird right? Mbappe, a world star gave us a green light, but Brandt, German kid on the up' didnt want to even talk about the move), so back at MELWOOD, Edwards from nowhere, asks Klopp and Buvac, cant we just try on MOHAMED SALAH? (to this day, nadhani Edwards mentioned Salah kwasababu ya his commitment wakat anataka kuja LFC kipindi cha Rodgers, dude waited for our call for over 10 months, and when we called, Mourinho alikuwa tayari mlangoni kwa Salah, so yeah nadhani Edwards aliona hicho kitu,) so we looked at his numbers(goals contributions)/style of play etc, and we decided to take a bet, and that bet imekuwa ni WORLD STAR, breaking records after records, CL winner, and starring kwenye same commercials with Messi (haters hate to see it).
Man, Klopp still likes Mbappe to this day, na kama opportunity ya kumsajili itatokea, we'll surely sign him bila kusita, and yes, the kid likes us too, one of his very first goal celebration in a competitive match was that DANIEL STURRIDGE DANCE. but lets face it, he's the biggest young footballer in the world right now, he's viewed as the best available MESSI/RONALDO successor right now, he's the most valued player in the world right now, you need to have a massive massive budget to get him, and on top of that, dealing with PSG can be very dangerous. and, just to make things clear, player's value inakuja na package nzima, and hiyo package ni lazima iwe na wage structure inayoendana na player's value, reports zinaonesha Mbappe is earning not less that 350k p/w akiwa na miaka 20 tu.
FSG, works in American way, balancing the books without upsetting the net spend, so kama (big IF, or it should be an example), tukiamua kwenda all out for Mbappe (STAR-BOY), we'll have to sell 2-3 of our star players, ili ku-clear out wages for Mbappe and funding the Transfer, PSG are demanding 300m for Neymar right now (and, he's 27 i think), so just fikiria wata-demand how much for their star-kid, and its so simple to figure it out, unavyoona soccer mafias kama kina Perez wanasettle kwa kina Hazard/Jovic etc ujue wamejaribu na kushindwa kwa Mbappe. listened to his press few weeks ago, inaonesha kabisa he wants out, but you cant just get out at PSG, (main example, should be Verrati). unless mpaka owners watake uondoke, and comments za owner wa PSG za juzi zina-suggest kuwa they are willing to let Neymar go, but the fee ndiyo tatizo.
So, lets just forget about Mbappe now, yes inaweza ikatokea akaja LFC, but we shouldnt be hoping for that (not now), we cant sign him, we may have the pull (Jurgen Klopp), but hatuna tools (enough money). so lets just build this team, lets just cherish our front 3 (wote watatu walikuwa ni backup transfers), but they've delivered us a CL trophy, because sometimes you dont need one quality player upfront to win you trophies but unaweza ukahitaji 3 players with good chemistry to win you trophies. just build the team around them, get and sign top class players around them, they've showed kuwa they can win us trophies kama wakiwa na world class players behind them. so we cant afford to sell them ili kufund another transfer, and we cant afford to sell any of our world class players now, just build the team around them, tumefanikiwa kubuild the backline around VVD, build the Midfield around Fabinho, and build the attacking line around the front 3, so what we should do now? add quality depth, add quality players kwenye team ambayo tayari ina potential world beaters, City ambao ni our main competitors in the league now, wamekuwa na consistency kwenye league kwasababu kila TW wanaongeza quality players around their star players like Kompany (kabla hajaondoka), Fernandinho/David Silva/Aguero etc, look at Fergie's utd, he had consistency kwasababu alikuwa anaongeza qualities kwenye a very strong squad. so we should be doing the same.
we needed a world clas CB for years, and tumempata VVD so build the backline around him for the next 4-5 years, get very good/competitive young Defenders to learn and grow with him as their leader, do the same thing kwa Fabinho, go out and get good/competitive and top class midfielders to build and develop the MF around Faby for years to come, do the same kwa our front 3 (ndiyo maana huwa nasema tunahitaji sana a number 10 and good wingers to build and form a strong attacking line around the front 3).
Number 10s wote ambao tupo linked nao, wana-range katika 55m kushuka chini, which is a very good price for a top class number 10, considering players like Wan Bissaka are going for that same price, or Maguire for 70m, Rodri for 70m or Joao Felix for 120m. few years ago it was a must kuspend BIG, as our squad was so poor, hence we needed to splash the cash on Alisson/Virgil/Keita/Faby even Salah (Lol, remember when we thought 38m was too much him, because wakati wa Rodgers Basel wanted 11m tu), we needed to build a spine, now we have it, the main job ni kui-develop, how? by adding smart/quality/competitive depth kwenye squad. and thats how it should be.
Thats my personal take.
