Clinton Morrison feels Liverpool are ‘crying out for’ new signings in midfield like Borussia Dortmund star Jude Bellingham. He believes the Reds rue not strengthening this summer.
Jurgen Klopp brought four new players to Anfield over the off-season including midfielder Arthur Melo on loan from Juventus. But the Brazilian is yet to register his Premier League debut after requiring surgery on a thigh injury. He is targeting his return in the New Year.
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Naby Keita has also not featured in the top-flight this term after the Guinea international sustained a hamstring injury. He has since returned to first-team training and could be an option in the coming weeks. But the Reds have two league fixtures before the World Cup.
Liverpool will travel to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday without another midfield option in James Milner, as well. The 36-year-old will sit out the north London affair as Klopp abides by concussion protocols. Milner suffered a head injury in the Champions League this week.
Clinton Morrison feels Liverpool are ‘crying out’ for signings like Jude Bellingham
Morrison claims the issues Liverpool have suffered in midfield show the Anfield natives are ‘crying out’ for further new signings in the position after targeting the wrong areas. He also feels Borussia Dortmund star Bellingham would have been ‘outstanding’ in Klopp’s system.
“Maybe not in all the right areas, that’s what I would say, the meatiest areas,” he told Sky Sports News (5/11, 12:21). “It’s the right areas, they needed to bring in a midfielder. They were crying out for that.
“You said about all the amount of games that they’ve played and all the finals they’ve got to. That’s a lot of workload on those young players. And to do it week-in, week-out consistently is really hard. And they’ve picked up injuries at crucial times, as well.
“I just think they needed to bring in a young midfielder, energetic one. And we all know, we talk about the player that they wanted and probably couldn’t get him at this moment in time is Jude Bellingham. He would have been an outstanding signing for them.”
Jude Bellingham was, and remains, of interest but will cost a club-record fee
Liverpool were, and remain, interested in signing Bellingham from Borussia Dortmund over the summer. Cadena SER reported during June that the Reds were prepared to pay €100m (£87m) for the 17-cap England star. But BVB refused to sell him after losing Erling Haaland.
Bellingham remains of interest to Liverpool for a future swoop. ESPN reports the Reds lead Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City and Real Madrid in the race for the 19-year-old’s services. But Bild reports Borussia Dortmund would demand €150m (£131m) for him.
Signing the Birmingham City product for either speculated fee would see Klopp smash the Reds’ transfer record. The German paid SL Benfica an initial £64m, rising up to £85m after add-ons, to sign Darwin Nunez this June. He will have to trigger the bonuses for the record.
Liverpool’s current record spend is the £75m they paid Southampton to sign Virgil van Dijk in January 2018. The figure was the world record for a defender at the time. The £67m the Reds paid Roma in July 2018 briefly made Alisson Becker the most expensive goalkeeper.
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