Liverpool join race for Kylian Mbappe as Jurgen Klopp holds talks with agent

Liverpool have joined the race for Monaco's highly-rated young striker Kylian Mbappe, with manager Jurgen Klopp reported to have made contact with the player's representatives.

The Daily Mail said Liverpool have kept tabs on Mbappe over the past 12 months and are ready to make an offer to rival the likes of Arsenal and Real Madrid.

Klopp has already held preliminary talks with the France international's agent, the report said.

Arsenal are understood to have had an ambitious £87m bid rejected by Monaco for Mbappe, while Real Madrid reportedly had a world-record £103m bid turned down for the forward.

Manchester City, Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain are also monitoring Mbappe's situation at the Ligue 1 club.

The 18-year-old was named the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year after scoring 15 goals in Monaco's title-winning campaign.

Mbappe said last month that his sole focus was on developing his game by playing at a club that offers regular first-team football.

"I will make a choice based on my sporting career, and my career is first and foremost, and I am at an age where I need to play, and that will be paramount," he told beIN Sports.

"I'm not 35 or 36, an age where I have to manage [my body], I still have everything to learn, this year was discovery, and now comes the most important step: confirmation.

"And I will be the sole decision-maker, and I will not go anywhere where I will be forced to go."

Monaco chief executive and vice-president Vadim Vasilyev told the Daily Telegraph in May that the club had no intention of selling Mbappe this summer.

"The plan is to do everything to prolong him and to do everything that he stays a minimum one more year with us," he said.

"We will [turn down offers for Mbappe], although that will depend, of course, also on the player. We will make an offer to prolong his contract and hopefully he will accept and stay with us. I think in the month of June, before the season starts."