Jurgen Klopp willing to offload 3 Liverpool stars to sign Jude Bellingham ahead of Real Madrid: Reports
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is reportedly prepared to cash in on three of his midfielders to sign Borussia Dortmund prodigy Jude Bellingham, who has also been heavily linked with Real Madrid.
Bellingham, 19, has established himself as an indispensable member of BVB's squad since arriving from Birmingham City for an initial fee of £25 million in the summer of 2020. He has netted 19 goals and contributed 21 assists in 112 overall appearances for the Bundesliga outfit.
As per Football Insider (via El Nacional), Klopp has expressed his desire to offload James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita to facilitate more funds for Bellingham in January next year.
With Real Madrid also interested in the £104 million-rated teenager, the Reds are keen to generate some income in the winter transfer window.
Great night. Onto the knockouts.🫡 https://t.co/LoCy2I9nHm
Of late, all three of Milner, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Keita have been demoted to squad roles at Anfield. The trio are in the final year of their contracts and will be free agents on June 30 next year, which is why Liverpool are interested in selling them next year.
Furthermore, Harvey Elliott and Curtis Jones are currently considered proficient at deputizing for first-team starters like Thiago Alcantara and Jordan Henderson in Liverpool's three-man midfield setup.
Real Madrid are keen to lure Bellingham away from Dortmund to replace Luka Modric in the near future. The 20-cap England international is said to be the final piece of Los Blancos' midfield puzzle, which includes the likes of Aurelien Tchouameni and Federico Valverde.
Bellingham this season 🔥
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Bellingham, who has a contract until June 2025 at Signal Iduna Park, has been in superb form at club level in the ongoing 2022-23 campaign. He has registered nine goals and two assists in 22 games for BVB so far.
A box-to-box operator blessed with passing and dribbling, Bellingham is currently representing England at the ongoing 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. So far, he has started all three of his team's Group B matches, scoring his first-ever international goal during the Three Lions' 6-2 win over Iran.
David Seaman backs Arsenal to sign promising Liverpool and Real Madrid target
During an interaction with Express, Arsenal great David Seaman was asked which team, including the likes of Liverpool, Real Madrid and Manchester City would win the race for Bellingham. He replied:
"Arsenal, hopefully. I would like to think they've got a realistic chance of signing him but it depends on how they finish the season."
"It's so weird that we're almost halfway through a season and we've paused it, with players still to go back. I would love to see him at Arsenal. He's a special player. He looks like he's been playing for England for the last 10 years. He's so special for his age."
Bellingham is next set to feature for England in the side's 2022 FIFA World Cup Round of 16 clash against Senegal on Sunday (4 December).