Jürgen Klopp has confirmed Liverpool made an attempt to sign a midfielder earlier in the summer, but their attempts weren’t successful since he decided to join another club.
The Reds continue to be linked with a few players who can operate in the middle of the pitch and among them is Jude Bellingham.
Liverpool have been regularly named as a contender for his signature, and earlier this week Borussia Dortmund sporting director Sebastian Kehl admitted the star is popular, especially in the Premier League.
“There is no request for him. Jude is a player who is known across borders. He has a very large market in England particularly,” Kehl told Sky Deutschland.
“But there is nothing that we have to decide at the moment. To be honest, I know that from the player and his family: The boy has absolutely no interest in going anywhere this summer. He will stay with us, I can guarantee that today.”
These reports have reached Germany, with Sport1’s BVB reporters, Patrick Berger and Oliver Müller, giving their take on it. The former states there is interest from Klopp’s side in the player, but dismissed the latest claims about the agreement.
“That (a verbal agreement) is currently not the case. There is no verbal agreement with any club. But, of course, Jude Bellingham has attracted a lot of interest from clubs like Real Madrid and Liverpool,” Berger told Sport1’s podcast, Die Dortmund-Woche.
Bellingham is happy at the Signal Iduna Park and is not considering a move away from Dortmund. That has not stopped the Merseyside club.
Sport1 state that in ‘recent weeks’, Liverpool have ‘repeatedly approached’ the 19-year-old’s father, Mark, and the player’s agent, Mark Bennett.
On Dortmund’s chances to retain Bellingham, journalist Oliver Müller explained: “Keeping players longer is only possible if BVB are successful sporting wise and the performance in the Champions League is improved. Then the chances of players like Bellingham staying for the long term would also increase.”
