Djibril Cisse: Liverpool need Kylian Mbappe and I think he could join them

Liverpool are having a season to forget as their defence of the Premier League title slowly edges away from them, and former Reds hero Djibril Cisse thinks they need his compatriot Kylian Mbappe to bleed new life into the side next season.

The PSG hitman has been linked with a move to Anfield since last summer and many think he could make the switch to England after winning every domestic trophy possible in France.

And Cisse believes he’d be a great fit for Jurgen Klopp’s side, as they will no doubt look to add firepower to their squad ahead of the 2021/2022 campaign.

“Kylian Mbappe suits the English style of football and he would fit into Liverpool’s system well,” he said.

“The Kop would absolutely love him because they want players with a fighting spirit and a direct style of play that can always make something happen with them in the side.

“He’s not the type of player who plays the ball side-to-side. He’s always going to use the ball and go at players in a 1v1 situation and make things happen. He’s always going to create chances.

“I think he would do very well at Liverpool, so we’ll see what happens. If I had the chance to meet him and speak to him, then I would give him the advice to go (to Liverpool).

“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity and he wouldn’t regret it.”

While conceding Manchester City look in much better shape than his old side after the 4-1 victory on Sunday, the former French national striker is not totally giving up on this season just yet as he says anything is possible in football.

He said: “I think it’ll clearly be very difficult for Liverpool to win the title now, but anything in football is possible and there are still 15 games left to play. To have a chance they have to win pretty much all of the games because City aren’t going to give away many points.

Cisse acknowledges that Manchester City have turned things up a notch since the turn of the year and admits the league leaders are looking as strong as ever.

“I think Manchester City are very strong and in my opinion they have improved on last season. They look like they really want to win it this season, more than any other team,” he said.

As a successful striker throughout his career, Cisse was pushed to name the best striker in the Premier League at the moment. While some might expect him to name Mohamed Salah or Harry Kane, the Frenchman named Jamie Vardy as his favourite.

He said: “I like Jamie Vardy because he’s not a pretty player, but he’s very effective. He fights all the time and scores goals and that’s what I like in a forward player. He’s a pure number nine.

“I like Sergio Aguero too obviously because he’s a top, top player. And the trio at Liverpool of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane are obviously good too. There’s a lot of good strikers in England at the moment.”

Cisse states that Liverpool are the biggest club he has played for, and looks back fondly on his time at Anfield. Unsurprisingly, he selects the famous night in Istanbul as the most memorable moment of his career, and that Champions League campaign will never be forgotten.

He said: “After the Chelsea game in the semi-final at Anfield, everyone said, ‘we have something big to achieve’ and we did everything we could to reach that goal.

“We went through a lot of big teams such as Juventus, then Chelsea and obviously the big giants of AC Milan.

“We looked at it as a one-off game where anything could happen. We didn’t travel to Istanbul as a small team to just stand and look at them play. We wanted to go there and give them a run for their money and that’s what we did.”

Cisse picked out his favourite Liverpool teammates as Harry Kewell, who was a close friend in the dressing room, and Steven Gerrard.

“Stevie G was great,” he said. “He lived football, he smelt football and he was football!

“As a striker you had less things to think about when playing with him. You could focus on your run, and Stevie would do the rest with the pass.

“Sometimes when you play with less quality players, you have to make a run that isn’t too difficult for the player to pass the ball and there’s other things to think about.

“With Stevie you could make the run and the ball would arrive.”

And Cisse feels privileged to have been part of Liverpool and describes the football club as having a special family atmosphere, as well as having fans that are unrivalled in the world of football.

He said: “It was always goosebumps when I ran out to play for Liverpool. I was and still am proud to be a part of this family, and it’s a big family.

“Whenever I come back to Liverpool it’s great. They show me love and respect, and they don’t forget you and what you did for the club.

“The fans remember what you achieved, and it’s ingrained in their memories.

“People spoke to me before I moved to Merseyside about ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ and I thought it would be big, but I had played in Marseille in front of a great support and thought it might not be as big.

“Trust me, I changed my view after I experienced it. It’s the biggest and best crowd by some distance.”

Check out all the latest football betting odds at William Hill