Why Liverpool fans must not worry about Real Madrid's pending £124m offer for Jude Bellingham

In the last 48 hours, several stories have been released in Spain regarding the transfer race to sign Jude Bellingham.

The 19-year-old is currently the most coveted player in Europe and is expected to become a truly world class midfielder.

For Liverpool, signing him means taking a huge step towards returning to the top of the Premier League after the horror show that has been the 2022/23 season.

Jurgen Klopp has had to deal with an injury-plagued squad with several players declining. In fact, the Reds' players have missed more games through injury this season than any other club and it's not close.

According to a chart from the Sunday Times, Liverpool players have missed a combined 162 Premier League games through injury.

So it shouldn't come as much of a surprise to see Liverpool battling to string more than a handful of good performances together.

Until the 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth on Saturday, it seemed as though a corner had been turned.

Liverpool managed to put a run of five consecutive clean sheets together, including the famous 7-0 win over Manchester United.

Of course, in the middle of that encouraging run, Real Madrid thrashed Liverpool 5-2 at Anfield. They will now travel to Spain with the objective of winning by four goals.

An unlikely task.

If reports from Spain are to be believed, Liverpool are also on the back foot in the race to sign Jude Bellingham from Borussia Dortmund.

Reports from Spain over the last couple of days have suggested that Real Madrid are ready to pay £124million to secure his signature in the summer.

In addition to that, Liverpool are said to be at a disadvantage currently due to their Premier League form.

With the Reds currently on track to miss out on Champions League qualification, is this a concern?

Is Champions League qualification vital to signing Jude Bellingham?

According to a previous claim by the Athletic's David Ornstein, sources suggest that Liverpool signing Jude Bellingham doesn't necessarily mean he will be put off joining the Reds.

Ornstein wrote in late February: "Bellingham is a huge admirer of Klopp and Liverpool, and several sources have insisted he wouldn’t necessarily be put off by the club’s recent blip.

"One recurring theme in all the conversations for this article is that Bellingham is hugely intelligent and will think long-term — picking the right move is more important to him than a potential year without Champions League football."

Ornstein added that Klopp's strong relationship with his former club, Dortmund, could prove key, especially with director of football, Julian Ward, vacating his position at the end of the season.

The German is reportedly obsessed with signing Bellingham and was even making daily calls to convince him to join Liverpool over their better performing rivals.