Sky Sports: Liverpool could win race for £132M signing that Klopp called "absolutely exceptional"

Jude Bellingham is closing in on a Liverpool move with Sky Sports reporting that the Reds are the favourites to land the English midfielder.

This season has been a mess for Jurgen Klopp, his coaching staff and his players.

Very few would have predicted a downfall such as we've witnessed this season following the emotional highs of last season's quadruple attempt.

While there is a lot more to Liverpool's demise than those not connected with the club would care to admit.

Injuries have been a regular nuisance but failing to upgrade the engine room beyond a last ditch loan for Arthur Melo has left Klopp with a team not fit for purpose.

Liverpool needed to sign a midfielder in the summer and have paid the price this season.

Signing Bellingham in the summer would be the perfect fix.

Liverpool will have to pay up to £132M for Bellingham

The Englishman's arrival at Anfield could break the Premier League transfer record with Bundesliga expert and Sky Sports reporter, Florian Plettenberg, stating the fee could reach €150M (£132M).

“We all think Bellingham will leave this summer,” Plettenberg reports.

“There is no chance Dortmund can keep him at this stage but he has a contract without a release clause, so the price tag is very high.

“Dortmund want to have between €100m-€150m for him in the summer.”

Signing Bellingham would cost drastically more than the fee paid to sign Virgil van Dijk.

Yet, at 19 years of age, he's already worth the money and has so much scope to grow and improve.

Liverpool are "one of the favourites" to sign Bellingham

Despite the financial muscle it will require to make this signing a reality, Liverpool appear to be favourites.

Sky Sports headlined an article on Wednesday: "Liverpool favourites to sign Jude Bellingham this summer from Borussia Dortmund, say Sky in Germany."

This follows a report from Marca which states Real Madrid are unable to compete financially with Liverpool. A surprising update given the two clubs' historical differences in transfer spending and wage allocation.

The Bundesliga reporter added: “There are three targets for him – Real Madrid, Man City and Liverpool.

“Liverpool are one of the favourites, and Jurgen Klopp is pushing, pushing, pushing for him and says he is his No 1 transfer target.”

From a sporting aspect, Real Madrid and Man City are in a better position to sign the 19-year-old but Jurgen Klopp's charisma and vision for the future may already be enough to make the teenager the most exciting Liverpool signing since Virgil van Dijk arrived at the club in 2018.

The German manager has never hidden his admiration for Bellingham telling the press in December: " [He's] Absolutely exceptional.

"With all the things he has and things he can improve, to describe him I would say the things he can do are difficult to learn, and the things he can improve are easy to learn.

"So, yes, he is a really good player.

Will the Premier League top four impact Liverpool's move for Bellingham?

It's unclear yet whether Liverpool's embarrassing league position will have any bearing on a move to sign Bellingham in the summer.

The Reds are joint 9th in the Premier League table, languishing on 29 points. Not only is Klopp's team 16 points off the title race pace but they're also 10 points behind Manchester United, who occupy fourth.

There are still 19 games to come for Liverpool in the league this season - exactly halfway in their PL campaign

But they need to stop dropping points so regularly if they are to harbour any hopes of avoiding a drop from Europe's elite competition for the first time in six years.