Gabby Agbonlahor thinks Jurgen Klopp’s comments about Manchester City were born out of ‘frustration’ and he feels Pep Guardiola’s side could prize Jude Bellingham away from the Merseyside club, as he told talkSPORT on Wednesday morning (19/22).
The former Premier League striker thinks, because Liverpool ‘don’t have the money’ to buy the Borussia Dortmund star for £120 million, those at Manchester City will do so anyway to show their rivals ‘we have the power’.
All of this stems from Klopp expressing how no-one can compete with the three Gulf state-owned clubs, Manchester City, Newcastle United and Paris Saint-Germain because of their financial might and power.
And Sky Sports report that the Reds, who take on West Ham United in a Premier League game on Wednesday night at Anfield, have now made a legal complaint against a publication after reports that those comments were ‘borderline xenophobic’.
Everyone wants top players, no more so than the elite clubs, as someone like Bellingham, who is perhaps the best teenage footballer in Europe today, will be in the middle of a transfer tussle, sooner rather than later.
Agbonlahor reacted to Klopp’s comments and also spoke about where England’s 19-year-old star could end up in the near future as his stock continues to rise.
“I don’t think he was trying to stoke the fire,” said Agbonlahor. “I think it’s frustration that maybe, in the future transfer windows, he doesn’t have the money to buy a Bellingham for £120 million.
“And if I was Manchester City, and they probably will, is go and buy Bellingham. Gundogan is in his 30s. They might think ‘yeah, we will buy Bellingham because we have the power and we want him at our club and not yours’.”
EVERYONE NEEDS BELLINGHAM
Liverpool fans have been crying out for a player like Bellingham for a number of windows now, but the club just haven’t pushed the boat out to try and sign him.
Whilst, on paper, Manchester City don’t need a player of Bellingham’s ilk, it shouldn’t be ruled out that they would still probably try to sign him next summer.
At the end of the day, when the current champions of England smashed the British record transfer fee to sign Jack Grealish from Aston Villa for £100 million, at the time, they didn’t need the expert ball-carrier.
But as Man City have found out this summer, with the exits of Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling, it’s much better to be pro-active in the market than reactive.
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