Football writer Henry Winter has suggested that Jude Bellingham will definitely join Liverpool next season.
Winter, who is the chief football writer at The Times, was replying to a post on Twitter about Dele Alli. In the tweet, the journalist said that he’s ‘looking forward’ to seeing Bellingham at Liverpool in 2023.
“Worried about your perspective if you think they are similar players, Jack,” said Winter in response to a sarcastic claim that Bellingham will feel his England place under threat from Alli’s move to Besiktas. “I’m looking forward to seeing Bellingham at LFC next year, just hope Dele regains his drive wherever.”
Perhaps it was just a nod to what we already know – that Liverpool are very much interested in Bellingham. But Winter is as well-informed as they come, maybe he’s just let something slip…
Liverpool putting all their eggs in Bellingham’s basket
It would make a lot of sense if Liverpool had in-fact already tied up a deal for Bellingham. If that were the case, then fans could more easily forgive failure to take action on midfield signings this summer.
With the 19-year-old secured, it would make the lack of movement in this year’s market easier to take.
But the truth remains that Liverpool can’t rely on one player to rejuvenate a whole midfield. The Reds could conceivably lose as many as three of their current options for nothing next season.
All of James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita are currently out-of-contract this time next year. Liverpool will surely have to replace at least two of them and ideally all three.
As Bellingham would likely cost anywhere up to or even over £100m, that won’t leave much room in the budget.
As a result, Liverpool would still be wise to make a late move in what remains of this year’s market. The way things look right now though, that isn’t going to happen.
Bellingham or no Bellingham, that’s a huge risk for Jurgen Klopp to take. We’ve already seen the impact a couple of makeshift midfields can have on Liverpool’s game. Blow that up into a whole season and we’ve got a big problem on our hands.
Thankfully, players should be back from injury soon. We’ll just have to hope that’s enough for The Reds until the cavalry arrive next summer.
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