Liverpool pulled out of any deal to sign Jude Bellingham owing to the ‘crazy’ demands of his father and agent.
The Reds had long been viewed as a leading contender to sign Bellingham, before shockingly pulling the plug on their pursuit in April. The primary reason for the U-turn is said to have been the sheer price of getting the deal done.
But after news emerged yesterday that Real Madrid are set to pay a relatively low £87m for the 19-year-old, some Liverpool fans were left flummoxed.
In his column for CaughtOffside today, journalist Christian Falk has tried to clear up some of that confusion. He claims that although the transfer fee was indeed affordable for the Reds, the agent demands were not.
“Liverpool
did have a plan in mind of waiting to see if there would be an opportunity to swoop in but it doesn’t seem like they’ll get a chance because most of the deal is done,” Falk said, of Bellingham’s impending move to Madrid. “The last hurdle is the transfer fee with Dortmund and at this point I think Real Madrid has the better arguments for the transfer. I think the race is done
heard his father’s demands were the decisive point. Of course, the overall package mattered. If we were talking about just the salary and transfer fee, a Liverpool move may have been possible. However, a salary of €20m [£17.3m] plus a transfer fee, which Dortmund have set at €150m [£130m], plus add-ons and then some side money for Mark Bellingham and the agent would be impossible for Liverpool. I heard they said it was crazy and they don’t do such crazy things.”
Liverpool won’t bow to Bellingham demands
At this point, Liverpool’s ill-fated pursuit of Jude Bellingham will go down in folklore. How on earth the Reds could chase the player for such a long time and still fail to get him will have generations scratching their heads.
But then, along came Liverpool’s two great nemeses: money and Real Madrid.
And yet, you can’t imagine that the Reds wouldn’t have expected both of those issues to crop up. The price of the whole package for Bellingham was always going to run into the hundreds of millions. Having kept their powder dry for a while, that money should have been there.
As for rival interest, Bellingham is the best young midfielder of a generation, that was always going to be there, too.
But, alas, Liverpool were spooked. In plenty of respects, you can’t blame them. It’s also somewhat admirable of them to stand up to the ludicrous demands of agents and family members. They did that with Nabil Fekir five years back and were proven correct on that count. Hopefully, in time, they” be able to say the same about Bellingham.
