Sky Sports journalist Florian Plettenberg has shared how Manchester City played a role in stopping Liverpool from signing Jude Bellingham.
Taking to Twitter, the reporter revealed how the Sky Blues and Real Madrid have driven the 19-year-old’s price up so significantly that the Reds had to drop out of the race.
“Been told that Real Madrid and MCFC have driven the price up exorbitantly,” wrote Plettenberg.
“From the point of view of the Liverpool bosses, the total package (transfer fee + salary) was rated too high for his age.
“Liverpool is out of the race.”
Liverpool priced out of Bellingham race
The fact that Liverpool are only now seemingly finding out about Bellingham’s price-tag is laughable – it simply cannot be true.
The Merseyside outfit have been focusing on the teenager for years now.
They have held numerous meetings with his representatives, and it even seems like the player would be open to moving to Anfield.
Thus, the claims they cannot afford the fee just don’t ring true. Reportedly, they have already put the money aside needed to sign him, and those costs would have been calculated long ago.
The lack of Champions League football next season is due to a lack of investment in the squad. Now they won’t have that money coming in, FSG will claim they can’t afford big-money signings. However, even when we were at the top, such signings were never made.