Rio Ferdinand believes Jude Bellingham would’ve been ‘excited’ by the prospect of joining Liverpool despite the Reds now ruling themselves out of a move.
The Borussia Dortmund star had been long linked with a move to Anfield but with Jurgen Klopp’s side struggling for consistency this term the German tactician no longer believes it would be right to spend over £100m on a single player.
“Liverpool have ruled themselves out now, but I think if Liverpool said they would’ve liked him I think there was a chance he may have gone to Liverpool, he believes in himself and he backs himself he thinks he could have been the catalyst to get them back up again which amplifies his stardom,” Ferdinand told BT Sport (as quoted by The Boot Room). “That may have excited him, Man United may be able to offer that, but I think their priority is a centre-forward.”
Liverpool fans will have been surprised to hear that they’ve turned their attention away from the 19-year-old – we didn’t sign an elite midfielder last summer because the club had put all of their eggs in one basket and were confident that the dynamic midfielder would be brought to Merseyside for the 2023/24 campaign.
More than one player is required to get us out of our current rut so spending the money on two or three players instead of just Bellingham does somewhat make sense, but to see him head anywhere other than Anfield in the summer is going to be painful.
It’s unclear as to whether the Birmingham City Academy graduate is genuinely interested in a move to Liverpool, especially if we aren’t playing Champions League football next season, but to pull out of the race so early is a blow for all Kopites.
There are plenty of other midfielders on our radar so let’s hope we can complete some quality business in the summer to ensure we’re competing on all four fronts next term.