Liverpool have been ‘spooked’ by the decline of some of their star players this season and that means the Reds need a ‘perfect’ transfer window this summer, that’s according to GOAL’s Neil Jones.
Jurgen Klopp’s side were two games away from completing a glorious quadruple last term but this campaign has been a complete contrast.
Out of all cup competitions and 12 points adrift of the top four, Liverpool have now reportedly turned their attention away from Jude Bellingham with it no longer deemed practical to spend over £100m on a single player – something that Jones has discussed.
“The thing that gave me a feeling that there was a chance at Jude Bellingham was that Liverpool didn’t pour any cold water on it,” Jones told Redmen TV. “Why would they do it now? The conclusion I immediately go to is this season has got worse and worse and worse and worse. I think they still thought, ‘we’re going to finish top four’.
“I think Liverpool have probably been spooked by some of the players, some of the declines in them.
“The other conclusion that you could reach – and it’s an even more straightforward one – is that they’ve been told by Jude Bellingham, ‘No Champions League, no party. We don’t fancy it.’
“Now they’re going to need some real, real, real good signings. Not just good signings, they’re going to have to restructure the team and really get them flying as well.
“There is a world where you sign Jude Bellingham, and he literally just transforms Liverpool’s team into what it used to be, he just revives it. I don’t think it’s as clear-cut as that. I think the rot is a little bit deeper around the side.
“I think a signing like that is more than just a player. I think it’s a ‘feeling’ of… almost convincing yourself this club is still going forward. I think there’s a danger that this whole thing becomes Liverpool accepting where they are.
“It does mean that Liverpool – they already needed to have an incredible summer, they now need an absolutely perfect one.
“They can’t now look like they’re winging it with the second choice. It has to be more ruthless. I have big doubts about whether they’ll do it.”
For us to ultimately end our pursuit of the Borussia Dortmund star really is baffling.
We didn’t sign a new midfielder last summer and have suffered as an effect this season because we were waiting patiently to bring the 19-year-old to L4 and now after 18 months of constantly being linked with a move we’ve turned our attention elsewhere.
We understand that we could make two or three decent signings with the same amount of money it would cost us to sign Bellingham alone but he really does appear to be a generational talent.
Despite still being a teenager he’s running the show regularly in the Bundesliga and had a quality World Cup in Qatar.
He does appear to be the solution to many of our current problems but it’s now looking unlikely we’ll see him in a red shirt next season.
There is some suggestion – and hope – that he may remain at Dortmund for another season and then weigh up his options at the end of the next campaign but we’ll just have to wait and see.
There are numerous other players being strongly linked with a move to Merseyside and it’s imperative that we sign the right players to ensure we’re back competing on all four fronts nest season.