Liverpool will return to the table for Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jude Bellingham, after suddenly pulling out of the running.
The Reds made a shock U-turn on their interest in Bellingham last week, dropping out of the race to sign him before the transfer window has even opened.
But according to Dortmund legend Roman Weidenfeller, all may not be as it seems. As relayed by journalist Jan Aage Fjortoft on Twitter, the former goalkeeper insisted to Sky Germany that Liverpool will come back in for the 19-year-old.
“I am convinced that Liverpool will come back to Dortmund and ask about Bellingham again,” Weidenfeller is reported to have said.
Certainly, it would seem strange for the Reds would give up so easily on such a public target. Perhaps there is still legs in this chase yet.
Bellingham yet to play his hand
Whatever your view on the Bellingham news last week, it certainly was odd. And despite their recent reputation for nonsense in the transfer window, Liverpool do remain wily operators,
It isn’t beyond the realms of possibility that the Reds public dropping of Bellingham as a target was coordinated by the club.
If they’re convinced that the player wants to move to Anfield but are trying to lower Dortmund’s asking price, that would kind of make sense. Whether it will work or not is a different story.
Of course, it could all be taken at face value. Maybe Liverpool truly are no longer interested in a ‘world-class’ player they’ve courted for pretty much two years. Perhaps the price really is too high for a club who have kept their powder dry for going on four transfer windows. We’ll let you decide that one.
For now, all possibilities remain on the table. It’s easy to see, for instance, a scenario where Bellingham stays at Dortmund another year before leaving next summer.
Although that would mean another excruciating year of will-he-won’t-he, it would at least put Liverpool in a stronger position. Strengthen this year, get back to their best next season and come back in for the silver bullet in summer 2024. Like we say, everything’s on the table – according to Weidenfeller anyway!