Patrick Berger has verified the news that Liverpool want to sign Borussia Dortmund’s young midfield monster Jude Bellingham and fans are in dreamland.
The news was first broken by the Daily Star, who reported: “Anfield chiefs are preparing a club-record £80million bid for Bellingham next summer, which would make him the most expensive signing in Liverpool’s history.”
Patrick Berger has verified this news but has added that Borussia Dortmund do not want to sell and there is no release clause in the player’s contract which runs until 2025.
Paul Joyce has also said that there is “significant interest” in Bellingham. Liverpool fans are in dreamland over a young player that is a hot topic right now.
Paul Joyce pic.twitter.com/6nEXDa165P
— 8 (@The_Gerrard_Era) September 8, 2021
Paul Joyce ? pic.twitter.com/T1TcPNadbp
— 🏂 (@ifcdrizzy) September 8, 2021
Paul Joyce you say pic.twitter.com/lblFsk62uz
— Darwin (@FourFourDarwin) September 8, 2021
https://twitter.com/trentxLFC/status/1435629971125452807?s=20
joyce pic.twitter.com/JKRDTF700T
— メ𝟶 (@DonWanyama_) September 8, 2021
Liverpool signing Bellingham would come out of the blue somewhat as it would require significant investment and if they didn’t sell a player to generate the funds, it would be a major surprise.
FSG have done some amazing things for this club but fans have grown frustrated with the way transfers are conducted and after Fabrizio Romano confirmed that Patson Daka was missed out on because Liverpool couldn’t move on Xherdan Shaqiri or Divock Origi, these frustrations have been compounded.
After the Super League debacle, a fiasco that John W. Henry personally grovelled over, fans were expecting a little more than a single centre back signing especially when that signing should have been made a year earlier to replace Dejan Lovren.
Signing Jude Bellingham and not selling a key player or a fan favourite to do so would go a long way to repairing FSG’s relationship with the Kop but it’s difficult to imagine they will pay the enormous fee that Borussia Dortmund are certain to demand.
Bellingham reportedly earns £208,000/month which equates to £52,000/week and a move to Liverpool would see a pay bump and one that the Reds could surely afford given the low starting point.
However, if the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United come in and offer him the types of wages that Jadon Sancho has been offered at Old Trafford, with the Daily Star claiming he’s earning £175,000/week at 21.
Liverpool simply cannot compete with that kind of financial firepower as their top earners like Mohamed Salah, Thiago Alcantara and Virgil van Dijk earn just above that and they’re all Champions League winners.
It’s going to be interesting to see how Liverpool find a way to compete with their rivals moving forward as money is more and more influential in how managers reinforce their squads.