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• Mbappe and his baggage

  Mbappe is a legitimate phenomenon, a generational talent that has already illuminated two World Cups by the age of 25. Even in a team as dysfunctional as Paris Saint-Germain, he is so often unstoppable, a player blessed with such speed that he burns full-backs to a crisp. But Liverpool don’t need him. Or, to put it more accurately, they don’t need all of the baggage that Mbappe brings with him.

  He is the unashamed star of a soap opera that should have been cancelled years ago, the ringleader of a circus in which he forces PSG and Madrid to jump through hoops for him. It’s all very unedifying and the complete antithesis to the core values that Klopp has restored at Liverpool.

  Say what you like about the German because of his propensity for ranting and whining, but his teams are admirably industrious and impressively resilient. The only way into Klopp’s starting line-up is through hard work. The team must always come first. He’s always favoured grafters over galacticos.

  Have egos collided at Anfield in the past? Absolutely. Roberto Firmino’s recently released book confirmed what we already suspected, that Salah and Sadio Mane never really saw eye to eye during their time together on Merseyside. Yet it never became an issue off the field, and certainly not on it.

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• Cristiano Ronaldo’s heir

  Would that have been possible if Mbappe were one of those involved? No chance. He has never hidden his frustration with team-mates – or indeed coaches. The Parisian is as petulant as they come, the clear heir to Cristiano Ronaldo, Mbappe’s wholly unsurprising childhood hero.

  It’s only right that he moves to Madrid, an arena in which self-absorbed superstars are not just tolerated but indulged – and often successfully, it has to be said.

  The kings of Europe have a self-perpetuating sense of entitlement. Real Madrid and their players always believe themselves to be the best in the world – and so often prove themselves to be for that very reason. Belief breeds belief, while success sustains success, and Mbappe is as confident (or arrogant, depending on your view) as they come, meaning he’s destined to thrive at Santiago Bernabeu. Just like Ronaldo, he really is too good to fail.
• Getty

Klopp could make Mbappe even better

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  But not a team player

  Of course, there’s never really been any hope of Mbappe ending up at Liverpool. The numbers don’t add up; the figures are farcical. The Reds would have to absolutely obliterate their salary structure, and possibly sell some of their most valuable assets, to even be able to afford Mbappe on a free transfer.

  Remember, the latest word out of Madrid is that Real are willing to pay Mbappe a €26 million (£23m/$29m) salary and a €130m (£113m/$143m) signing bonus. He’s just not worth that kind of money, at least not to Liverpool.

  Klopp is already way ahead of schedule in his construction of another great team at Anfield. The midfield overhaul has gone better than anyone could have anticipated, the defence is holding up surprisingly well and has been bolstered by the emergence of Jarell Quansah, while Liverpool do not lack options up front, as underlined by a starting line-up shorn of Salah triumphing at Arsenal on Sunday evening.

  Furthermore, while Mbappe might look like the ideal player to fill the void that the Egyptian will eventually leave behind, the Parisian would actually increase the risk of collapse by eroding the very foundations on which the whole project is based.

  Because Mbappe is not a team player; he is an individualist, the kind of character that criticises the manager’s tactics or threatens to leave every time the going gets tough. Such antics are to be expected at Madrid, but would quickly become an unwanted distraction at Anfield.

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  PSG created a monster

  Indeed, the feeling is that there’s no pleasing him, which is why he’s become such a problem for PSG. He thinks he’s bigger than the club, because that’s what they allowed him to become.

  The club’s Qatari owners have continually bent over backwards to cater to his every whim, paid an absolute fortune to get him stay, and yet he’s now on the verge of leaving for nothing.

  PSG obviously risk irrelevance without Mbappe – and they know it, which is why they’ve fought so hard to hold onto him. But they’ve created a monster they can no longer control.

  Christophe Dugarry warned four years ago that Mbappe was moving in the wrong direction, that the kid who once bailed on Monaco’s title celebrations to get a good night’s sleep was in danger of becoming an egomaniac.

  Now, the former France international believes that it’s also imperative for his continued development as a player that he moves elsewhere.

  “I think Mbappe is stagnating today,” Dugarry told RMC Sport. “I hope he leaves, from the bottom of my heart. I think he’s becoming more and more predictable, he lacks strength and character, he disappears from games too often.

  He’s wanted all the power, you get the feeling he’s a little boy, you get the impression the suit’s too big. I feel he’s a bit lost, there’s no sense of symbiosis.”

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Plays and acts like a Real Madrid player