Rumour Mongering: Liverpool Losing Race to Sign Jude Bellingham

In the summer of 2022, when Liverpool lost the race to sign Aurélien Tchouaméni to Real Mardid, the club failed to have a proper backup plan to reinforce an aging and injury-prone midfield, instead deciding to wait until 2023 to sign Jude Bellingham.

That failure has been central to the narrative of a difficult and disappointing 2022-23, but the promise of Bellingham has at least brought with it the sliver of hope that they might get things right—a year late and a wasted year later, but right in the end.

Now, though, The Athletic’s David Ornstein claims that after Bellingham to Liverpool being just short of a sure thing for months, the Reds are now unlikely to complete the signing of the big money Dortmund 19-year-old midfielder at the end of the season.

Supposedly, as things stand today with Liverpool out of Europe once again at the hands of Madrid and limping towards the end of the league season with a top four finish a long shot, it is said that Manchester City and—of course—Madrid are the favourites.

After the way things have gone for Liverpool this season and having put all their eggs in the Bellingham basket, it perhaps would seem apropos for him to end up elsewhere. But also after months of Bellingham-to-Liverpool, there’s always a need for a new angle.

Whether this is just an outlet looking for a new twist for a long-running story and pageviews or the pending colossal recruitment failure by Liverpool and the club’s owners after the lessons of last summer and this past season will only become clear in time.