All the latest on Liverpool’s pursuit of Jude Bellingham

Despite a disappointing lack of transfer activity in the closing stages this month, Liverpool still have high hopes for a much more successful summer. The Reds signed just one contract in January, with Gody Gakpo joining from PSV.

Liverpool have faced a very difficult first half of the Premier League season and fans have called on them to strengthen their midfield as they look to rebuild an aging squad. Although they have been linked with numerous stars in recent months, Jude Bellingham is the one name that remains a priority for Jurgen Klopp’s squad.

With around six months before Liverpool can take concrete steps to attract the teenage sensation to Anfield, we take a look at the latest from their quest. Borussia Dortmund considering talks

Although Jude Bellingham is virtually leaving the Bundesliga this summer, Borussia Dortmund are still hoping they can keep the prized asset. The club are keen to offer him a new contract which would make him their best earner with an offer of 15 million euros.

Bellingham are thought to earn around £49,000 a week at Signa Iduna Park, far less than a number of Dortmund players – with the likes of Sebastien Haller, Niklas Sule and Julian Brandt earning more than double Bellingham’s wages.

However, Dortmund hope they can entice him to stay at the club with a huge raise. Christian Falk wrote for CaughtOffside: “Dortmund still have some hope that Jude Bellingham can stay – they want to make him a new offer where he becomes the club’s top earner at €15m. They are now scheduling talks in March.

“His family are thinking about the future and are well aware that the next step has to come in the summer, because it can’t go much better for Bellingham in the Bundesliga.”

Liverpool’s “leading” match

The race for Jude Bellingham has been a long and anxious one for all the clubs involved, with previous reports suggesting the midfielder would opt for Liverpool before Real Madrid took pole position just weeks later.

The latest twist in their chase is Fabrizio Romano who claims the Reds are back top in the race for the England international. Speaking on the Born and Red YouTube channel, the reporter said: “Today? I’m calling Liverpool. But we know how these transfers can change.

“So today Liverpool are leading the race, but the race is absolutely open. And when you’re in the race with Real Madrid and Manchester City, it’s never a safe match until you sign the contracts.”

Chelsea focus on ‘elsewhere’

Liverpool may have received a boost in their search for Jude Bellingham, as Chelsea are increasingly unlikely to sign the 19-year-old in the summer. While the Blues have long been linked with a move to Bellingham, their recent £105m offer for Benfica’s Enzo Fernandez could taint their interest.

The Telegraph reported that Chelsea remain in talks with the Portuguese club and are confident of finalizing a deal. While they’ve been squandering money since Todd Boehly arrived at the club, spending even more money on Bellingham in six months could prove a bit much.

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The fact that transfer deadline day seems to be quiet at Anfield – at least in terms of income – seems to indicate this.

With Arsenal and Chelsea looking for big midfield deals, the Reds are ready to sit on their hands and disappoint their fans, ready to wait until the summer to begin the belated and clearly needed overhaul of the club. Klopp’s team.

They are betting on Jude Bellingham, in other words, the Borussia Dortmund star is still on the agenda and would be the man to lead the club’s next big team. Whether Liverpool can convince the 19-year-old, who is also being courted by Real Madrid and Manchester City, of an election is another matter.

Bellingham’s obsession, while understandable given the England international’s incredible talent and potential, meant no midfield reinforcements at Anfield this month as Liverpool completed their ‘January’ deal with the signing of striker Cody Gakpo from PSV Eindhoven on December 28.

Of course, there were plenty of rumors that just about any two-legged midfielder and half-decent agent would be linked with a move to Merseyside. The likes of Sofyan Amrabat, Declan Rice, Sander Berge, Joao Palhinha and Teun Koopmeiners have all been mentioned and then quickly dismissed by sources close to the club.

The same is of course true for Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez, players who are certainly in the game in terms of profile and who have many admirers at the club. It must therefore come as a shock to Reds fans to think that not only will neither player go to Liverpool, but that both could line up against Klopp’s side before the end of the season for their Premier League rivals.

Wanted by Arsenal, Caicedo has expressed his desire to move from Brighton to the Emirates Stadium, while Chelsea are hoping to secure a 120m-euro (£106m/$131m) deal by deadline day for Benfica’s Fernandez . they aim to continue their rather substantial spending.

Meanwhile, Liverpool appear to be sticking to whatever midfield options they have; namely an 18-year-old rookie anchor, a player whose contract expired in four months and started one Premier League match alongside him throughout the season, and a disappointing collection of out-of-form, aged, young and unfit , Moreover.

Hardly the kind of cast to turn doubters into believers, right? Liverpool’s problems at the center of the park have been evident for months, but they continue to resist the temptation to solve them by spending money. Aside from Stefan Bajcetic, who arrived at Celta Vigo as a youngster two years ago, Thiago Alcantara was the only permanent signing in midfield since the summer of 2018. Arthur Melo was naturally loaned from Juventus at the end of August, but the Brazilian played just 13 minutes of competitive soccer before tearing a thigh muscle in October, and he’s still at least two weeks away from returning to full training.

And what you have now is a group of players who are no longer fit for purpose, certainly not for a team that expects and demands to challenge for every major trophy, as they have for the past five years. One might reasonably expect Fabinho and Jordan Henderson to improve after poor runs and Bajcetic, Harvey Elliott and Curtis Jones to continue to develop, but what more can Klopp squeeze out of a 37-year-old James Milner? Do Liverpool really expect Thiago, a player with a history of injury problems, to play every game at the age of 32? And if Naby Keita or Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are the answer, why does neither of them have a new contract offer on the table?

Klopp currently looks like a man in a dark room looking for the light switch. He talks about small steps and small improvements—things like running, knocking out opponents and making a tackle—and insists that he or his team won’t give up. “There’s nothing to do but fight,” he said after Sunday’s Amex loss, “and we’ll do it.”

However, there is a growing suspicion that Liverpool are already starting to see this season as such a write-off that even they think the gap to fourth place is now too large. Ten points with 19 games to go aren’t impossible to win back, for a team that plays well, but for one that plays like Liverpool? It might as well be 58 points.

The Champions League, in which they play a round of 16 match against old foes Real Madrid, represents their last chance at glory, but even the optimists are starting to worry. After all, the Reds failed to win against Carlo Ancelotti when they were at their best last May, why should they do it now, at their worst?

Of course, stranger things have happened: remember 2005? – and Real themselves have barely snatched it this season, but it’s hard to have faith in this Liverpool team at the moment. Every game feels like a banana peel, every performance is delivered as if under duress. Nothing feels comfortable, whether at home or on the go. No one is in good shape.