One journalist has said that Jurgen Klopp ‘probably knew’ Liverpool couldn’t realistically afford to spend £100m+ on Jude Bellingham in the summer, given the scale of the squad rebuild needed at Anfield.
After months of intense links with the Borussia Dortmund star, The Times reported last week that the Reds had ended their pursuit of the 19-year-old because of his vast price tag, which The Guardian claimed to be as much as £135m.
Pete O’Rourke had subsequently reported for Football Insider that the Merseyside club are prepared to go back in for the player in 2024, although he’s also stated that their manager probably realised he couldn’t put all his eggs in the one transfer basket this year.
The journalist told GIVEMESPORT: “He’ll be frustrated, Klopp. I think any top manager would love to have Bellingham in their side and to be able to work with the young England international as well.
“But, I think being realistic, he probably knew that Liverpool right now need more than one player for the rebuilding. They probably can’t afford to be spending over £100m on one player this season. Bellingham is going to cost in excess of that.”
READ MORE: (Video) Liverpool ‘will spend heavily’ this summer despite Bellingham snub – Ornstein
It’s undoubtedly a massive frustration that, after being linked so strongly with Bellingham for so long and with a midfield rebuild required this summer as several current options look set to depart (Transfermarkt), Liverpool now appear to be out of the running for him.
However, if the 19-year-old is unattainable for the Reds, the focus needs to turn quickly towards alternatives of high quality.
If the £135m which we’d have needed to spend on the Dortmund talent is instead invested in three midfielders who’d offer something different to what we currently have, that would appear to be a more sensible approach.
Just imagine if Liverpool had gone all-in on Bellingham, only for him to succumb to a long-term injury soon after joining. Given the frequency with which players at Anfield have been sidelined in recent months (Transfermarkt), that’s certainly not an incomprehensible scenario.
FSG not going big on the Englishman might make sense from that point of view, although that apparent decision has made it all the more imperative to land multiple high-quality signings in order to justify pulling out of the race for someone who’d seemingly been a priority target for a long time.
who want a Stephen Pagliuca to takeover bid deal brand new owner of Liverpool FC from fsg now to show hand up now in fsgin based?