Liverpool seriously looked into the possibility of signing Jude Bellingham earlier this summer.
That’s according to journalist Fabrizio Romano. Speaking on the Here We Go podcast, Romano claimed that Liverpool explored signing the midfielder after missing out on Aurelien Tchouameni.
“Jurgen Klopp in the last 24 hours said that he was a fantastic player and everything but he is not on the market,” said the journalist. “The reality is that Liverpool, immediately after missing out on Aurelien Tchouameni, they were exploring this discussion for Jude Bellingham, but it was not even a negotiation because he’s not on the market.
“No bid, no discussion, no negotiation. Bellingham will not leave this summer, but next summer I believe he will be on this podcast every episode.”
Unless something unexpectedly changes, all signs point to a big push for Bellingham in 2023.
Liverpool position themselves for Bellingham
It’s interesting that Liverpool seemingly tried to push for Bellingham’s signature ahead of time this summer.
Arguably, it might be worth The Reds to push that little bit harder to test Borussia Dortmund’s resolve. Of course they don’t want to lose Bellingham in the same summer as Erling Haaland, that goes without saying.
But every player has a price at which the selling club will pick up the phone for. It appears that Liverpool aren’t too concerned about the fee for Bellingham, more-so the wages he might be asking for.
This summer, there’d potentially be a little less competition for the 19-year-old. Manchester City have just shelled out on Kalvin Phillips, Manchester United aren’t in the Champions League and Real Madrid have just spent big on Tchouameni.
There would likely be other teams in the mix, too. But The Reds would have a much clearer path to a player they are obviously keen to bring in.
Regardless, that still looks like an unlikely course of action this summer at this stage. Jurgen Klopp is seemingly happy with his options, perhaps only a damaging injury in pre-season would change that, and hopefully that doesn’t occur.