Kylian Mbappe under Jurgen Klopp. At Liverpool when they were at their relentless best. In front of an Anfield crowd that would have devoured every dazzling moment.It is quite the thought, isn’t it? And one easily revisited after comments made by Jurgen Klopp in Boston last week after watching Mbappe’s France beat Morocco to reach the World Cup semi-finals.How might one of the world’s best players over the past decade have rewritten the history books at the most successful club in England? Would Klopp have made the supremely talented Frenchman even better? Would Mbappe have given Liverpool the edge during a period when they were so close to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City?Get free access to the most comprehensive World Cup coverage in The Athletic appThe simple assumption is that the forward’s presence would have lifted Liverpool to even greater heights if, at any stage between 2016 and 2024, he had moved to Merseyside. It is no secret they were interested in signing him on numerous occasions, most prominently in 2017 when Klopp boarded a private jet from Blackpool to discuss with the attacker’s family the opportunity to move from Monaco, where he was starring as a teenager.Liverpool had invested significant scouting time on Mbappe as he emerged as a player with the potential to shine at the top of the game. There were conversations within the recruitment department in later years, including before Mbappe signed a contract extension with Paris Saint-Germain in 2022.So is he the one who got away?A young Kylian Mbappe celebrates after scoring for Monaco against Troyes in 2016 (Valery Hache/AFP via Getty Images)Mbappe’s blistering goalscoring record and world-class individual performances have more than justified the hype that surrounded his breakthrough as a 16-year-old. But football takes unexpected turns, and there is no guarantee that a forward who — now 27 — has scored 440 career goals for club and country would have been the hit at Liverpool that is easy to imagine.Say, for example, he upset the balance of the team? Would Sadio Mane have been as effective if Mbappe had been on the scene? Would Mohamed Salah have suffered, or even joined in the first place? And would Liverpool have moved on players — personnel who in reality proved highly influential — to free up funds to cover the cost of his signing?The list of variables is significant, but the general feeling is that when a player is as outstanding as Mbappe, his brilliance drags a team to new levels. Steven Gerrard showed that at Liverpool for many years. Lionel Messi inspired Argentina to a World Cup win in 2022. Mbappe’s impact for France has elevated his position in the pantheon of his country’s greats.A World Cup winner at 19, runner-up in 2022, and into the semi-finals of this edition as the tournament’s joint top goalscorer with Messi, Mbappe has starred on the biggest stage for years.But a Champions League medal is still missing from his trophy cabinet, and he has yet to win La Liga or a domestic cup with Real Madrid since joining two years ago. There was Ligue 1 success with Monaco and plenty of other league and cup doubles with PSG.Kylian Mbappe challenges Liverpool’s Georginio Wijnaldum at Anfield in September 2018 (Julian Finney/Getty Images)So, how close did they come?In 2017, when Mbappe was 18 and lighting up Ligue 1, Liverpool poured significant resources into pursuing the breakout star, including a private in-air meeting.“It was the most expensive non-transfer (Liverpool) invested in,” Klopp told German broadcaster Magenta TV. “We flew from Blackpool to Nice. In Nice, the entire Mbappe family boarded a private jet with five rooms or something. We really went all out. Then we flew around in a circle, talked with the family, ate good food. And then he went to Paris.”