In our view, Liverpool could fall into the Manchester United trap by thinking that Jude Bellingham will solve all their problems, if they manage to secure his services in the summer.
Liverpool could do a Manchester United by putting all their eggs in the Bellingham basket
Just 2 months ago, transfer expert Fabrizio Romano had said on his YouTube channel that Jurgen Klopp’s side have an ‘obsession’ with signing the Borussia Dortmund starlet. Furthermore, he stated that the 19-year-old is the club’s ‘main target’ next season.
While one understands why Liverpool are extremely keen on the brilliant Bellingham, to place such importance on signing him is exactly how Manchester United have done their business post-Sir Alex Ferguson. And we all know how that has worked out.
From pinning their hopes on a potential title challenge on Cristiano Ronaldo in 2022 to expecting Paul Pogba to rescue their midfield in 2016, United are the blueprint to follow on how not to perceive big transfers.
Sure, Jude Bellingham could elevate Liverpool but to expect him to turn the club’s fortunes around would be a very Manchester United way of looking at things. The genius of the teenager does not change the fact that the club still need a sitting midfielder, a fit backup centre-back in the absences of Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate and an able understudy to Mohamed Salah.
Considering Jurgen Klopp famoulsy only tried to sign Aurelien Tchouameni once the Englishman was deemed unavailable, one gets the sense that it well and truly is Bellingham or bust for the Reds, which is a dangerous approach.
Let’s talk about the Bellingham fee
Considering it has been widely speculated that Bellingham could cost around the £132.5 million mark (via SPORT), a club that prides itself on being frugal like Liverpool would have to spend a majority of their transfer budget to sign him, unlike in the case of a cash-rich side like Manchester United.
While there is no disputing that a player of the wonderkid’s quality would demand such a sizable fee, Klopp and Co. have a number of problem areas to solve alongside the need for his presence.
And considering the club do not have major sellable assets in James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Naby Keita and Nat Phillips to name a few, the net spend argument does cannot be factored in as well.
While Jude Bellingham, as Andros Townsend once said is a ‘special talent’ (as relayed by Eurosport), Liverpool are in special circumstances as well and would be asking the youngster to rescue their club singlehandedly, which Manchester United have already shown is not the way to go.
The same cannot be said for Real Madrid or Manchester City, who also have their fair share of problems but find themselves in incomparably more stable situations when likened to the English side.
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