Liverpool have made signing a central midfielder this summer a transfer priority as Jurgen Klopp hasn’t been able to name his strongest XI for many games due to injury. The Reds are after Matheus Nunes of Wolverhampton Wanderers, Mason Mount of Chelsea and Jude Bellingham of Borussia Dortmund who is their ‘top target’, says The Athletic.
The 19-year-old is one of the best young players in Europe and one of the best central midfielders, so it’s easy to see why Klopp would want him at Anfield. He joined Dortmund from Birmingham City in 2020 and has 123 appearances to his name, scoring 20 goals with 24 assists.
Klopp’s men are currently sixth in the Premier League table and six points adrift of the top-four, so it remains to be seen whether Liverpool can convince Bellingham to come to Merseyside without finishing in a Champions League spot. They need to prove they’re still capable of challenging on all fronts but look set for a trophyless campaign after being recently knocked out of Europe.
Bellingham has interest from Real Madrid and Manchester City who are both still in the Champions League and challenging for their respective domestic league title, so they might be a more attractive proposition than the Reds. Klopp would love a player of his calibre, however, as he’s had bad luck with injuries.
There isn’t a midfielder in the squad with 20 league starts this season and four of Klopp’s first-team options have made less than 10 appearances. Thiago has played in 53% of their league games, Arthur Melo hasn’t featured at all, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has played 13% of the available minutes, Naby Keita has started just three league outings and Stefan Bajcetic was recently ruled out for the rest of the season after six league starts.
The Athletic say Liverpool might have to pay ‘higher than’ £100m for Bellingham, so he would be a record signing. But the 19-year-old isn’t likely to rush to a decision, as he’s got two-and-a-half years remaining on his deal at Dortmund who desperately want him to stay. The Bundesliga outfit know they’ll struggle to fight off interest from the European giants this summer, but they still hold all the cards in negotiations. If they can make £75m profit after three years, it’s fantastic business on their end.
