Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool will opt to sign Jude Bellingham rather than spreading the cost across two players should the situation arise, it has been reported, with the Reds desperate to add the Englishman to their ranks.
The Anfield outfit are desperate for reinforcements this summer, with midfield a major area requiring surgery but defence also a position of concern, with neither Joe Gomez nor Joel Matip inspiring confidence this season for the Reds, and Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate both injury prone.
Their record spend in any season to date is £160m, however, which would likely only be enough to get them Jude Bellingham as it stands, with Borussia Dortmund’s captain valued at £132m (150m euros), a monstrous fee for a side whose record transfer currently stands at £75m.
Despite this, the Athletic claim that Jurgen Klopp ‘is more likely to spend big on him than sign two players with the same money’, with the likes of Mason Mount and Matheus Nunes both having been linked with moves to Anfield in recent weeks.
For his part, Bellingham is ‘a huge admirer of Klopp and Liverpool’, which has left ‘some involved in the Bellingham pursuit feeling this is Liverpool’s deal to lose’ should they be able to find the fee.
Real Madrid, meanwhile, ‘insist they have almost no chance of doing the deal because of the financials’, and ‘are expecting Bellingham to go to the Premier League’ this summer rather than the Santiago Bernabeu.
