Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid)

It’s not that bad. I guess you missed our discussions regarding man bag.

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This is nothing compared to the Quaresma rumours

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That was before the time of broadband internet - the wind direction changed on weekly basis then. Now it’s literally every 30 mins.

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We dodged that bullet …

True, but the rumours and media linking us to him lead to one of the all time most epic threads in TIA.

From memory, I think it was actually the longest thread in TIA history, or was at least up there in the top 3/4

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After the last few pages I’ve decided I don’t want him now. Probably be on the decline in his late twenties so only getting 10 years out of him is not for me.

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Isn’t Bellingham the same age as Arsenal ,s Saka,with roughly the same amount of games.These days if a young player is good enough then they are going to be playing a serious amount of games.

Saka is almost 2 full years older, but their work load the past 4 years has been very similar

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Nothing to do with transfers, but… I did not expect this crossover :sweat_smile:

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What exactly has Joyce said?

A few paragraphs from two of his articles today, touching on Bellingham:

There is a chance that the arrival of Jude Bellingham, and simply turning the page on this abysmal campaign, solves all those squalid inadequacies. If Klopp believes that, then Liverpool will go all-in to land the Borussia Dortmund and England midfielder.

Before the weekend, Bellingham was keen on the idea of moving to Anfield, and Dortmund’s shellacking by Bayern Munich on Saturday demonstrates how the natural order has been restored in the Bundesliga.

Yet with every passing week, every rallying call that goes unheeded and every mistake that is repeated, it must cause Klopp concern that he may need far more than a silver-bullet signing who would monopolise so much of his transfer kitty.

And…

Fenway Sports Group (FSG), Liverpool’s American owner, will back Klopp this summer with significant money to spend in the transfer market. Jude Bellingham, the Borussia Dortmund midfielder, remains the No 1 target and is keen to move to Anfield.

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That does sound quite bullish from Joyce.

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Tbf at this stage it would be both hilarious and a massive fail on our part, if we don’t get him.

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No it wouldn’t.

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With Bellingham, presuming we do sign him, the games in his legs is an issue, but it’s more that fans need to just be a bit grown up about things when we sell him before his legs go.

The problem I have with fans quoting Paisley on selling players before their legs go is that you can’t get away with that now. If we have data that a player is slowing, then so does every club out there.

In 2023, what selling a player before their legs go probably means is selling them two years before their legs go, and being grown up that someone is getting a good couple of years out of a player that you’ve moved on.

With Bellingham I am concerned that he has played a lot of football, and unless he is a freak, then that is going curtail the end of his career. So I think the long term plan might be get six-seven years out of him and then look to move him on for a big chunk of money.

Really in laid back mode over this one now…If he comes, he comes,Love him here,but if he chases the money, go for it!

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I agree with this strategy and I’d also suggest that we should (with a few local home grown exceptions, perhaps) be turning over ALL of our squad within this 6-7 year timeframe. If we are to get back to competing at the top and winning PL and CL (hopefully not unrealistic) and we want to try and stay at that level, then we can’t allow players to get comfortable and the group needs to be continually reinvigorated with fresh blood. I was banging on about this last year and it’s clear this season that part of the malaise is due to mental fatigue of players just not being able to motivate themselves to ‘go again’ - even within games. Klopp really demands a lot from his players and ultimately playing at this level is not sustainable for most playesr for their entire career - we have to recognise that 3-5 very good years is probably the maximum from most players and be much more ruthless in moving players on.

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Nobody at the club all ever say this, but i think the plan was always to sell Salah to Spain ala Coutinho, and freshen squad that way, but covid hit and Spanish clubs went broke, so we have been trying to switch boats mid stream.

Instead of losing him for nothing, they made correct decision (imho) to give him new contract, but Coutinho money passed by with covid and freshening the squad has been a bit hampered.

We’ll see about the summer, but looks like big outlay coming.

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I agree to a certain extent but it’s easy enough to see in training a drop in intensity.

Someone gets to 30 they’re not going to get fitter or faster. That’s the mark for me in 98% of cases.