The Reds will do anything to bring in the England international, but can they really beat Real Madrid and Manchester City under his signature?

It’s nice that Jude Bellingham is such a down to earth guy, isn’t it?

Because if he wasn’t, then the attention he’s getting now would be enough to create a 19-year-old with a big ego.

The Borussia Dortmund star clearly has a big decision to make in the coming weeks and months, as top European clubs vie for the signing of him. The phrase ‘hot property’ may have been invented for this gifted and stylish midfielder. Liverpool love him and have made him their number 1 summer target as Jurgen Klopp prepares to overhaul his overdue engine room.

Real Madrid adore him and are ready to build a new team around the Englishman’s skills. Manchester City are keen to reunite him with his old friend Erling Haaland and introduce him to a new playmate in Kevin De Bruyne, while Manchester United and Chelsea have long eyed Bellingham. United’s failure to sign him for Dortmund in 2020 must hurt the Old Trafford hierarchy more each week.

The charm offensives are in full swing. “Operation Bellingham”, brand, called it in October, when the Spanish publication mentioned in a splash on the first page that Real Madrid “was increasingly confident” to win the race.

A few months later, a report in Sport Bild arrived in which it was suggested that Liverpool was actually those in the front of the tail, with “advanced conversations” that took place and Bellingham herself tended to move to Anfield.

Then last weekend The Hattick, with the daily star ranging and revealed that the teenager would rejected the offer of a new contract from Dortmund, and that it was Manchester City that was now in pole position to sign it.

All this suggests, if nothing else, a certain degree of uncertainty about the player’s intention

The information of the lens is that for the moment there was little from Bellingham or his field to suggest that a decision was made, in which the former Birmingham man would like to focus his attention on the rest of this season with Dortmund, that work has in the Bundesliga and has a drawing match of the last 16 for the Champions League against Chelsea on the horizon.

Bellingham certainly did not seem to distribute on Saturday when he returned to the promotion of the club with a bang, the first goal on his part scored and a brilliant and played a leading role in a typical chaotic 4-3 victory over Augsburg in the Signal Iduna Park. You can imagine he would have been very pleased when he checked his reports later, and even more so when he saw clips of one of his heroes, Steven Gerrard, talking about his talents and offering him food and drink in an attempt to make sure he finishes. next season at Anfield.

“I’m a huge fan,” said Gerrard speaking to BT Sport ahead of Liverpool’s goalless draw with Chelsea. “I think the way he presents himself, the way he talks about the game, the performance of him… It impresses me every time.

“Liverpool lack the running number 8 who can get into the box, score a goal for you, who has the power, who has the outlet, who can step aside and really leave someone for dead. Bellingham ticks all of those boxes, so he’s the obvious one.

“I want him! He just has to send me his diary when he has a day off. I’ll fly to Dortmund personally, invite him to dinner and we’ll talk about it!”

Liverpool supporters lapped it, of course, just as they did when Jordan Henderson and Trent Alexander-Arnold completed a double man marking job on Bellingham during the World Cup.

Reports that “productive” talks had taken place between the player and Jurgen Klopp and that Bellingham’s father Mark had been offered a job as Reds scout were similarly well received, although they were quickly sacked by Klopp.

However, Liverpool clearly feel they have a good chance of signing him, even if Real and City seem to see the same thing. There has been no attempt, official or otherwise, to downplay the club’s interest and although links to other potential targets – Matheus Nunes, Teun Koopmeiners, Moises Caicedo – have surfaced recently, the message has been consistent: Bellingham is the one who will really want reds.

However, it takes more than Gerrard’s credit card, Alexander-Arnold’s late-night walks, and Henderson’s brotherly love to get him. They need to pay more money to start than they have ever paid for a player before and make him one of the highest paid players in the Premier League.

The figures in question are likely to top £150m ($184m) when salaries and agent fees are factored in, as Darwin Nunez could potentially exceed that figure if any add-ons are triggered. Apart from the money, but equally important is that Liverpool must convince Bellingham, to really convince him, that Anfield is truly a place where he can reach his ambitions and that can offer what he can do what he can do – the possibility of being the Year by year they compete for the greatest prices and the possibility of becoming one of the best and most controversial football players in the world.

Money aside but equally important, Liverpool need to convince Bellingham, really convince him that Anfield is indeed a place to pursue his ambitions and that they can offer what Real or City can offer – the opportunity, year after year to compete for the biggest prizes and the opportunity to become one of the best and most distinguished footballers in the world.

It might have been easy a year ago when the Reds were flying in the Premier League, winning domestic trophies and en route to a third Champions League final in five seasons. Who wouldn’t have looked at Liverpool with envy back then?

But the struggles of this campaign, both on and off the pitch, mean there are many more doubts and many more questions to be answered.

When looking to sign one of the most sought after players in world football the last thing you want is uncertainty and there is plenty of that at Anfield these days as the club owners seek a total or partial sale and that the sports director resigns. at the end of the season and the team is really threatening to drop out of the Champions League in May. A convincing pitch is therefore needed, along with a huge financial package, with Liverpool banking on Bellingham’s natural intelligence, allowing them to put the problems of the last four or five months behind them and instead look to the potential of the four or next five. months Years.

“Liverpool are in the middle of the league at the moment,” Gerrard summed it up well on Saturday.

“But I’m sure Jude is smart enough to realize there’s a new stand being built here [Anfield Road], it’s going to be a 60,000 seater stadium, they have one of the top five managers in the world, they have when they last won the Premier League, they’ve been in the Champions League final lately, they pay well, they have fabulous players and they’re developing players here.

“So that ticks a lot of boxes, but yes, Liverpool are in the middle of the league at the moment.”

Correcting that last point is of course the primary concern of Klopp, whose attempts to breathe life into his underperforming players are becoming more urgent week by week. The top four aren’t gone yet, but they will if they don’t improve soon. Aside from that, however, Liverpool must hope that the pull of the Bernabeu and Etihad can be resisted, that Klopp’s appeal is now bigger than ever and that Bellingham is grounded, sensible and aware of the wider context as Gerrard suspects. Yup.

If so, they have a real chance of getting what they want.