Liverpool signing Jude Bellingham this summer could have the same impact as Cristiano Ronaldo joining Real Madrid in 2009.
That’s the view of former Reds striker Emile Heskey. Speaking to 90min about Liverpool’s pursuit of the Borussia Dortmund midfielder, Heskey made a surprising comparison.
“Jude definitely fits that bill [for Liverpool]. Jude would fit the bill for a lot of clubs,” said the 45-year-old. “You hope that Liverpool can be the ones at the top of that list because you look at what he could achieve there.
“When you think of what Cristiano Ronaldo did by going to Real Madrid in his prime, and people thought ‘why’s he going to Real Madrid?’ but he saw an opportunity to be the man to take the club back to the top – it could be the same situation for Jude.”
Although we’re not 100 per cent sure it’s a legitimate comparison, we’d still love to see it happen!
Liverpool trying to sign a future superstar
The comparison may be a little dodgy here from Heskey, but the logic is sound. Bellingham can certainly be the face of the next great Liverpool team.
That will surely be the idea Julian Ward, Jurgen Klopp and co are selling the 19-year-old as they make one last push to woo him.
Sure, Bellingham could quite easily rock up at Santiago Bernabeu, just like Ronaldo fourteen years ago. But Cristiano was already a bona fide superstar by then. Twenty-four and the current Ballon d’Or holder, his status isn’t comparable to Jude’s now.
Although there were plenty of other massive names around Madrid at the time, Ronaldo was always going to be the main man.
Should Bellingham follow in his footsteps this summer, he wouldn’t be. Big names like Toni Kroos and Luka Modric may or may not be around still next season, but Karim Benzema certainly will be. So too will the burgeoning talents of Eduardo Camavinga, Vinicius Jnr, Federico Valverde and the rest. Bellingham would be just another cog in the winning machine.
At Liverpool, that wouldn’t be the case. Although other big, big names are at the club, the Dortmund man would have license to make himself the main one. Certainly over the next five years. You can very much see the captain’s armband on his bicep at Anfield at some point in the future. The same can’t really be said of Madrid.
Receive a digest of our best Liverpool content each week direct to your mailbox
