Liverpool are currently in the lead to sign the England and Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jude Bellingham – who is greatly coveted by both the Premier League and Europe’s elite – next summer and hope to exploit their Premier League rivals’ obsession with Borussia Dortmund team-mate Erling Haaland in order to achieve their ends.
Bellingham was previously on the radar of Manchester United before moving to Borusia Dortmund in July 2020 for an initial £20-million that eventually became £30m. But the merseyside juggernauts Liverpool are now making plans to bring the teenage midfielder back to the UK after his incredible displays for Dortmund and England, for whom he’s already been capped 10 times.
In the meantime while Liverpool is pursuing Bellingham, top-flight rivals like United, Chelsea and Manchester City are pre-occupied obsessively with Dortmund striker Haaland, who has a release clause next year. Anfield boss Jurgen Klopp, has opted instead to identify Bellingham, 18, to bolster his midfield ranks where his main options include Jordan Henderson, 31, and Roberto Fabinho, 28.
Klopp is obviously not put off by Bellingham’s price with his old club likely to ask for £90m so as to triple their investment to make the deal worthwhile on their part, which would end up making Bellingham Liverpool’s most expensive ever signing ahead of Virgil Van Dijk, who cost £75m.
Bellingham’s former club Birmingham are also keenly watching his future with deep vested interests as they have a lucrative sell-on fee.
Meanwhile,Dortmund are still pushing for the title this season where they trail Bayern Munich by four points, as their prospects were hit by a 3-2 home defeat to the latter at the weekend where Bellingham opted to question the appointment of referee Felix Zwayer. Bellingham was fined a hefty sum by the German FA after referring to the official’s six-month ban for a match-fixing scandal in 2005.
The 18-year-old was fined subsequently for “unsportsmanlike behavior” after Zwayer rejected Dortmund’s penalty appeals before giving their rivals a spot-kick for a Mats Hummels handball which Robert Lewandowski scored.
Bellingham said: “You give a referee, that has match fixed before, the biggest game in Germany. What do you expect?
“For me, it wasn’t [a penalty]. He [Hummels] is not even looking at the ball and he’s fighting to get it and it hits him.
“You can look at a lot of the decisions in the game.”
Dortmund are in for an intriguing summer that could turn into one of upheaval as Haaland is available for £64million in 2022 due to a release clause in his contract, being the centre of a major battle between United, City, Chelsea and Spain’s big two, while Liverpool have their interests firmly focused on Bellingham.
The former Birmingham player was part of the England squad that reached the final of Euro 2020 this summer and is expected to be instrumental to Gareth Southgate’s crack at the World Cup in Qatar next winter. Bellingham has made 21 appearances for Dortmund this campaign with three goals and seven assists to his credit.