People in Dortmund are starting to believe that Liverpool’s pursuit of Jude Bellingham really has come to a close.
The Reds had long been thought of as the front-runners in the race to sign Bellingham from Borussia Dortmund this summer. But a bombshell was dropped recently, with Liverpool proclaimed to have dropped out of the running.
Despite that there have been theories flying about that the 19-year-old could still end up at Anfield after all.
But according to German journalist Constantin Eckner, those in Dortmund aren’t buying into such rumours.
“Liverpool was of course in the running,” the journalist told BBC Sport. “The talk on the Dortmund streets is basically that Liverpool night not be in the running anymore, because the transfer fee might be too high and Liverpool are in a rebuild phase over the summer and need more than one addition to their midfield. So, it might not be smart from their side to buy Bellingham and nobody else.”
Liverpool and Bellingham the talk of the town
The talk on the streets of Dortmund sounds very much like the talk on the streets of Liverpool, Madrid and Manchester right now. But maybe that’s exactly what the Reds want.
Of course, the news that their team were no longer pursuing their top transfer target was met with dismay by Liverpool supporters.
Perhaps there is method to the madness after all, though. It isn’t too hard to envisage a reality where Liverpool have indeed convinced Bellingham that it’s Anfield or bust for him.
As a result, you can understand them trying every trick in the book to convince Dortmund, and the world, that they’re out of the race. It gives Bellingham’s current club far less room for manoeuvre in regards to price.
Some will believe that, most probably won’t. Ultimately, we’ll never know until the England international’s next move is confirmed.
Certainly, from a Liverpool point of view they’ll hope that the chatter in Dortmund is wide of the mark this time.