Liverpool told that ‘amazing’ midfielder still wants to join them this summer

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Liverpool have been told that they are still Jude Bellingham’s ‘preferred club’ to join this summer.

The Reds had reportedly been leading the race to sign Bellingham as he prepares to leave Borussia Dortmund. But owing to the size of the rebuild needed throughout their squad, they’ve had to bow out of the race.

Despite that, former Liverpool midfielder Jason McAteer thinks that the 19-year-old would still love to get his Anfield move.

“The thing with Jude Bellingham, I personally think he wants to go to Liverpool, I think that’s his preferred club,” the 50-year-old told beIN SPORTS. “But the size of the surgery that’s needed at Liverpool, you can’t warrant spending that much money. Liverpool work on a sustainable model that’s worked for them for the last five years.”

McAteer also claimed that Liverpool’s apparent failure to secure Bellingham was simply a matter of poor timing.

“I don’t think he [Bellingham] was never going to Liverpool, I think it was all about timing,” he argued. “If you look at the Cody Gakpo deal, they took him for a relatively cheap price. If they’d have hung on his price would have gone up and they’d have to pay more. Then you’re fighting in a room with clubs that can throw money at it. It’s all about timing.”

Football world wait on Bellingham decision

Throughout the last year or so, there has been a general feeling that Bellingham did indeed want to join Liverpool.

That the Reds were still in a race with richer clubs than them pointed to the fact that they had the same impression. However, whether that’s the case or not, Liverpool still had an enormous transfer fee to stump up. Without a willingness to pay that, it’s immaterial how much Bellingham wants to wear the famous red.

Conversely though, it’s also been claimed in some quarters that Liverpool pulled out having had no assurances that they were the England man’s preferred choice.

Unwilling to get into a bidding war deep into a summer where they simply have to strengthen, the Reds opted to move on. Wise, foolish, only time will tell.

In the meantime, it will be fascinating to see where Bellingham does end up playing his football next season. There still appears to be a half-decent chance that he could remain in the black and yellow of Borussia Dortmund. Should that come to pass, we’ll probably all be doing this same tired dance for the next 12 months at least.

But should that happen, Liverpool will have every right to feel emboldened. Spending the money on Bellingham should be slightly easier to justify in a year’s time. Also, if he hangs on for another year with the Reds publicly out of the race, it would suggest that he has indeed already made up his mind.