Reasons
In pounds the price is Ā£101m. Which I suspect will work out at 80m plus add ons.
In which case, Iād say get it done.
His price isnāt going down, and if we think he is the transformative midfield signing we need, then it doesnāt make sense to wait.
We surely have the money.
2 Likes
Really donāt see us getting Bellingham with the figures being chucked around and other clubs being linked. Not because we couldnāt get him but I think theyāll see it as too rich for our taste and walk away. Itās not like the Nunez situation where weāve covered half his initial fee with Mane going. Weāre going to be replacing Milner/Ox whoāll be off for nothing.
Secondly, thereās the wages. Heāll be what, 20 or 21 next summer. Imagine the disruption itāll cause bringing in someone that young on what will be massive wages for someone of his age. Donāt know who his agent is but Sancho is the benchmark that has been set. Itās almost the exact blueprint for him. And you donāt get bought for Ā£100m and then ask for Ā£100k a week, even if you are well grounded (or as well grounded as this game allows you to be.)
I also worry about how many miles he has in his legs already. Heās already played about 150 games by 19. Thatās an insane amount for someone his age and in that position particularly.
Really think the club will already be looking elsewhere. Heās good but heās not the second coming of Steven Gerrard and the cost of this will be mental.
2 Likes
Pounds. Sorry, havenāt got the symbol on my keyboard.
We are obviously interested in him, and I think if weād been led to believe heād want 350k weād have long made it clear weāre swerving it.
3 Likes
Itās definitely the sort of deal that makes me nervous. The supposed advantage of buying a younger player who hasnt peaked is that you are getting them for cheaper than theyād cost if you wait until they are performing at the level you think they can hit. More and more, weāre seeing high profile younger player priced as if theyāve already hit that peak. You get the advantage of more of their best years, but at way more risk. Iām confident in our team to make the right assessment, but he doesnt strike me yet as being anything like a 100 million pound player.
8 Likes
Based purely on stats - Bellingham would be our 5th choice midfielder.
1 Like
Everyone at the top of the food chain will be interested. The more interest the more that fee and wages will go up. We were interested in Tchouameni until that got a bit rich for our taste.
Just think the clamour for him will see the numbers skyrocket beyond our comfort level.
1 Like
Iām generally sceptical to super high fees for midfielders, unless they have something very tangible about them in terms of how they could affect a particular team.
In Bellinghamās case I just donāt know. Itās obviously about what he could be in a few years, but even though I like him a lot, I donāt really see him do anything that makes me think Ā£100m. Most of all I think it would be an amazing deal for Dortmund.
But again, thatās coloured by my general bias against wild fees for midfielders.
Edit: and also, what @rab says: I think weāll be priced out of it.
2 Likes
My view is the same as when talking about Mbappe prior to this summer.
It was always a possibility to sign him, but only in the instance that Klopp wanted him and he only wanted to play for us and us only and was willing to take a paycut to facilitate the move.
The same is true when it comes to Bellingham and I havenāt seen anything more convincing than we saw with Mbappe. A few name drops, a healthy respect for the club and players etc but Iām not sure why so many are convinced that he is our number 1 midfield target.
Certainly if the wages canāt be compromised on, I think itās a non-starter.
Obviously every deep pocketed club in the world will want him, but we go to the front of the queue if he wants to come here. On that score we have all seen the snippets along the way with Hendo, and it really looks like there might be something in this.
Bellingham seems a level headed lad, advised by his parents. We will pay him well from the outset, but with more to come as he does it in a red shirt. In the short term he could probably get a bit more elsewhere, but he will have his whole career in mind, and I can really see him wanting to come and shine in this Liverpool team under Klopp.
We could have a good 6-7 years out of him and he could still have a big move to the likes of Real Madrid, in his prime years, if thatās what he wanted to do.
The money side of it all has long been obscene, so I will let the club do the hand wringing on that one. If he is the player that has been identified, and if he wants to come here, and we can make it work financially, bring it on!
Bellingham, Jones and Elliot looks very tasty indeed. We have an aging breed who are in the driving seat now, but will share minutes with the new breed as we go, until being usurped.
Oh, and one more comment. We have form for being able to go big, but also finding great value to play alongside. So we arenāt suddenly buying a midfield full of Ā£100M players, if we factor in Jones as from within, and Elliot as a cheap youth singing from Fulham.
1 Like
One more thought. While it may well be different people, there is a lot of clamour for us to sign āproperā cover for Fabinho, but there is also a lot of people talking about a long term midfield of Bellingham, Elliott and Jones.
Iām not sure the two train of thoughts align.
5 Likes
Itās not necessarily the same people making both of these arguments, but the existence of the former does at least highlight a limitation of the latter - what changes would we need to make, or weakness would have to accept, to adopt such a forward thinking midfield without a dedicated holder?
1 Like
I agree watching him in his last match for England he played ok but worth 100M nah I am sure we can get a far better player for that kind of money we are always priced out of the market for English players.
Donāt get me wrong if we can get him for say 50M we could make him a great player as we did for Hendo and Robertson.
1 Like
@ZinedineBiscan time to unlock the Jude Bellingham thread!?
1 Like
No excuse. 100m lbs? 
1 Like
Might be the club saving face. I doubt we lost interest in Tchouameni or that the fee was too high. Merely that he chose RM over us judging by all the rumours about a week before he went there, which is obviously a fairly common theme with French players
1 Like
Sure, why not
1 Like
Agreed. It would have to be those three, plus a solid #6 or maybe two of them.
If we are willing to spend 100mil on a 19 year old, why not spend 50m each on 2 players. And it will be hard to convince me that there arenāt 2 players out there who are at least as good as Jude for 50mil each. He is very good but nowhere near world class and for 100mil that is what you must get, not potential. Check the last time someone paid Dortmund 100mil for a young player that had like 2 pretty good seasons at top flight football. Check how that has turn out.
5 Likes