‘I don’t understand’: Ex-Red thinks Liverpool made a major mistake over the summer

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Former Liverpool player Sammy Lee ‘doesn’t understand’ the Reds’ plan with Jude Bellingham. The player is in high demand.

It’s an open secret that Liverpool would love to sign Jude Bellingham. You can barely move for reports linking the two this season, after all, be they from England, Germany or Spain.

One recent report from the latter came from Cadena SER journalist Pacojo. He says that Bellingham is leaning towards Liverpool in 2023, rather than Real Madrid. Both clubs are desperate to sign the player, however.

But if that is the case, why isn’t he already at the club? That’s the line from former Liverpool midfielder Sammy Lee, talking on Sam Allardyce’s podcast.

“Apparently he’s high on Liverpool’s list for next season,” said Lee. “But they have identified him – and I wouldn’t dare be critical of Liverpool, their recruitment has been fantastic – I think for me if they identified him as being the one they should have got him.

“I don’t understand why people wait a year.”

Liverpool’s Jude Bellingham plan

Now, by all accounts, Liverpool would have signed Bellingham this year if it were possible. Borussia Dortmund wouldn’t sell and that was that.

It’s Allardyce who actually points out the real missed opportunity – England’s biggest clubs shouldn’t have let him go to Germany in the first place.

“I don’t think he should have gone [to Germany],” he says. “I think Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal or Liverpool missed a magnificent opportunity to snap him up.

“Birmingham at this stage are always going to be struggling for cash, and looking to capitalise on such a great player that they had.”

United, to be fair, did try to get him from Birmingham – they just couldn’t match what Dortmund offered. But in hindsight, this was a missed opportunity by English clubs.

Bellingham is a superstar and one of the best midfielders around this season. It’s remarkable what he’s doing at 19, to be honest.

It would have been nice to snap him up on the cheap years ago, certainly. Now it’ll cost over £100m to make it happen – and teams will willingly pay that price to avoid missing out on Bellingham a second time.