Liverpool have forced Chelsea to give up on signing Jude Bellingham, according to reports. The Blues now have their attention elsewhere.
This comes from the Athletic. They claim that Chelsea would love to sign Jude Bellingham – but fear Liverpool can’t be beaten.
Can’t be beaten by another Premier League side, anyway. The Blues feel that if Bellingham does want to return to English football, he’ll pick Liverpool. We imagine they see his other option as Real Madrid.
And this is why Chelsea are trying so hard to sign Enzo Fernández from Benfica. The Athletic say that part of the reason Liverpool lead the Bellingham race is that they’ve put in a lot of work for years now. They’re firmly established in the race and that makes it difficult for other sides to leapfrog them.
That level of work isn’t there for Enzo, however. He only moved to Benfica in the summer, after all, so Chelsea should have a much easier go of things. In fact, by moving now they should be able to get the player before anyone else can sort their own position.
Chelsea won’t sign Jude Bellingham
It’s certainly wonderful to hear of other clubs getting muscled out by Liverpool. There was a time when Chelsea were a much, much bigger dog in transfer fights than the Reds. That’s no longer the case.
But there are still plenty of questions that need asking. For starters, what’s Manchester City’s place in this race? They’ve long been linked with Bellingham and we fully expect them to make their own move. They’ll be a harder team to put off than Chelsea.
And, of course, does Bellingham want to move to the Premier League? He could fancy Real Madrid and La Liga in 2023.
Whatever the case, we can all expect to hear a lot about it this year. Bellingham is a wonderfully ‘special’ player, in the words of Michael Owen, and will likely be the biggest transfer over the next 12 months.
Let’s just hope he lands at Anfield.
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