Danny Murphy thinks Liverpool could repeat the promise they made to Virgil van Dijk in order to sign Jude Bellingham.
Former Liverpool midfielder Murphy has been speaking to the Daily Mail about Bellingham’s future.
Murphy claims he ‘wouldn’t be surprised’ if Liverpool tried to win the race for Bellingham by promising him hero-status.
Murphy noted that Jurgen Klopp used a similar tactic to beat Manchester City to Virgil van Dijk back in the 2017-18 season.
Klopp allegedly told Van Dijk that whilst he would win titles at City, he would become a legend at Liverpool.
That has pretty much come true and Murphy now thinks Liverpool could deploy a similar tactic to convince Bellingham.
“Jurgen Klopp told Virgil van Dijk he’d win titles at Manchester City but still be forgotten 10 years later whereas at Liverpool he’d be a legend forever. I wouldn’t be surprised if the same kind of sell may be used on Bellingham,” said Murphy.
Liverpool’s Jude Bellingham hopes hang by a thread
We see it all with Bellingham; his friendships with Liverpool players, his public admiration of Steven Gerrard, him signing Liverpool shirts on England duty.
This whips Liverpool up into a state of excitement, seemingly believing that Bellingham is dropping hints about a move.
Bellingham is already one of the top midfielders in the world at just 19 and he is running games in the way Gerrard used to for Liverpool.
Just signing Bellingham would completely transform Liverpool’s midfield and spark the next ear of Klopp’s Reds.
However, The Athletic reported last week that it’s now ‘increasingly unlikely’ that Bellingham will join Liverpool.
Manchester City and Real Madrid simply have bigger budgets and can probably blow Liverpool away financially.
Liverpool have to hope that money isn’t the driving factor for Bellingham.
Liverpool can offer him that hero status and the chance to follow in the footsteps of Gerrard.
Whether those are worth more than cold, hard cash remains to be seen but Liverpool signing Bellingham certainly isn’t a given.
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