Liverpool’s record-breaking kit deal with Nike could be the key to landing ‘dream’ signing Kylian Mbappe.
That’s the hope of former Reds striker and lifelong fan, Rickie Lambert.
Back in October, Liverpool won a court case against former kit manufacturers New Balance with a key factor in the decision being Nike’s ability to “not less than three non-football global superstar athletes and influencers of the calibre of LeBron James, Serena Williams and Drake” to promote the club’s brand globally.
NBA player James of the Los Angeles Lakers – a Reds fan who owns a minority stake at Anfield – has already been pictured wearing Liverpool’s new home shirt.
And Lambert reckons the Nike connections might just tempt a player like Mbappe across the English Channel.
When asked who he would sign if handed a blank cheque, the 38-year-old from Kirkby, whose own footballing dream came true when he went from screwing on lids in a beetroot bottling factory to running out in front of the Kop, told talkSPORT : “You always dream, don’t you?
"I was thinking with Nike taking over, every time you take over a team, they always have a marquee signing. I was hoping Mbappe or something.
“But I think he is out of our reach, to be honest.”
The France World Cup winner hailed Jurgen Klopp’s side last season with a glowing tribute in which he dubbed them "a machine".
But while a potential transfer to the Reds might appeal – it could improve his chances of getting his hands on the Champions League with Sunday night’s 1-0 defeat to Bayern Munich ensuring that petrodollar-fuelled Paris Saint-Germain have still never won the trophy compared to six-times winners Liverpool – the costs of such a move would prove prohibitive.
Klopp addressed speculation around Mbappe last November and made his thoughts very clear.
The boss said: "We have nothing to say about it to be honest, but [buying] this calibre of player is difficult!
"I don't think there is a club in the world that can buy Kylian Mbappe from PSG, that is how it is. And we are involved in that too.
"We cannot do it, it is as easy as that. OK, from a sporting point of view, there are not a lot of reasons to not sign him, what a player he is.
"But it is about the money of course. No chance. Absolutely no chance, sorry for killing that story!"
*Do you think Mbappe could ever end up at Anfield? Let us know in the comments section below.
