Liverpool head into the World Cup break in sixth place, and with their hopes of securing Champions League football fading, the transfer window in six weeks’ time will be rather timely.
What’s the word?
The Reds have been after an elite midfielder for a great deal of time now with Jurgen Klopp’s men missing out on Aurelien Tchouameni in the summer, as he joined Real Madrid.
Jude Bellingham has also been a long-term target for the Anfield outfit but with a seemingly astronomical price tag, they didn’t make their move in the previous window.
The Borussia Dortmund sensation has previously been touted at a whopping £103m in some circles, but according to CIES Football Observatory, his true value in 2022 sits at £218m.
That would be a world-record fee and something FSG simply won’t be able to afford, so their negotiating hats will have to go on over the winter.
According to Fabrizio Romano, the club are locked in talks with the player’s entourage with the hope of finally concluding a deal. The Italian journalist told GIVEMESPORT: “Liverpool will be in the race, 100 per cent.
“They’re already in contact with people close to Jude Bellingham, so Liverpool will be there.”
The best of our generation
Bellingham is one of the finest young players on the planet right now with his rise to stardom in Germany quite the story.
Poached from Birmingham City when he was just 17 years of age, the Midlands side decided to retire his shirt number due to his remarkable talent.
That seemed a bizarre thing to do at the time but as the weeks and months tick by, that is a decision justified.
His numbers since moving to the Bundesliga have been truly outstanding, with the central midfielder scoring 19 goals and registering 21 assists in 112 outings while still a teenager.
The majority of those goals have come this season as Bellingham has found the net on nine occasions, with four strikes coming in the Champions League.
A rangy figure in the middle of the park, the 19-year-old is a phenomenon, putting in a level of performance on Europe’s elite stage that very few others have at this stage of their career.
Indeed, speaking of those displays, Rio Ferdinand once said: “What he’s doing in his position at his age, we haven’t seen. The best of our generation, Gerrard, Lampard, Scholes, them guys – Vieira, Roy Keane, they weren’t doing this.”
It’s hard to argue with that point either. At Bellingham’s age, Scholes had only just turned professional, Vieira was playing for Ligue 1 mid-table side Cannes, Lampard was beginning to become a first-team regular at West Ham and Keane was a year into his spell with Nottingham Forest.
Evidently, it is Dortmund’s current sensation who has enjoyed the most meteoric of rises out of those midfielders, with his impact far greater at his youthful age compared to some of the best we’ve seen in English football over the last two decades.
On that evidence, he would be a mighty fine signing for Liverpool, especially when you consider their problems in that area of the pitch.
Jordan Henderson, Thiago and James Milner are no spring chickens while Fabinho’s form this term has been questionable at times. Thus, not only would Bellingham offer them reliability in that role for the best part of the next ten years, but he’d also bring extreme quality.
The youngster ranks in the best 4% of midfielders in Europe’s top leagues for touches in the attacking penalty area and dribbles completed while he sits in the top 10% for passes into the penalty area.
This is a player who always thinks positively, with his best qualities undoubtedly being an eye for a pass, the ability to burst forward with the ball at his feet and his finishing ability.
There isn’t a more perfect player in his position for his age and whoever ends up signing him will be incredibly lucky. He is a generational talent.
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