Jude Bellingham continues to be heavily linked with a move to Liverpool - and their interest is certainly long-standing.
The Reds are well known to be admirers of the Borussia Dortmund midfielder, but they are not alone. The likes of Manchester City, Real Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester United have all had their names credited with an interest in signing Bellingham.
Whether Liverpool will make a move for the 19-year-old in the summer remains to be seen. It’s likely that Dortmund will demand a fee well in excess of £100m to part company with the player at the end of the season, however, with his contract running until 2025.
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Bellingham signed for Dortmund in 2020 from Birmingham City. The Championship club received £25m for the midfielder, and according to a former Liverpool player, the Reds were also interested at that time.
Phillip Degen, who made 13 appearances for Liverpool from 2008-10, arrived at Anfield from Dortmund. He is now retired and was working as part of a group of agents known as SBE Management when Bellingham moved to Germany three years ago.
Speaking to the ECHO on a special Blood Red podcast interview in November 2020, Degen revealed his former club had tried to sign Bellingham before his move to the Bundesliga.
Degen, who turns 40 today, said: "It is one of the biggest victories for Dortmund [to sign Bellingham] because the challenge to get this player was very, very high and they had to fight for months.
"I know his agent, and I am a very good friend of him, and I know which kind of fight it was - every top club in Europe wanted to sign him.
"Dortmund made this challenge and they won it and it is the right step for me to get to a big star. Dortmund have shown before that they can develop players to a higher level and they can do very big steps, so it was the right decision.
"Real, Barca, AC Milan, Inter, AS Roma, Bayern Munich, Dortmund - all the top teams in England, especially Man United - and when you see the fight for this boy, it was massive.
"Even between the agents - and I know Mark, his agent very well - and I really like when people have a straight mind and they never forget from where they are coming.
"It was the right decision and the right move - that is clear."
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