The Jude Bellingham transfer saga is over after Real Madrid confirmed the signing of the former Liverpool transfer target from Borussia Dortmund.
Set to be unveiled on Thursday 15 June, the England international has signed a six-year contract with the La Liga giants. In truth, such a transfer has felt inevitable for a number of months now with it being a one-horse race for Madrid since April.
Speculation regarding the teenager’s future has been rife for the best part of two years, but despite strong interest from the likes of Liverpool and Man City over this time, the lure to become the latest Galactico at the Bernabeu has won out.
Moving to Madrid for an initial £88.5m, Bellingham could potentially become the most expensive British player of all time with add-ons taking the value of the deal to £115m. However, such a fee is still less than the £130m that was originally reportedly demanded by the Bundesliga outfit.
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Of course, Liverpool have known that they would not be signing Bellingham for quite some time, having withdrawn interest in the Borussia Dortmund star back in early April. Set to miss out on the Champions League for the first time since 2016, there were suggestions they had been priced out of the move as a result. Meanwhile, it became clear that the Reds required multiple quality new arrivals in midfield as their disappointing season unravelled rather than one marquee addition.
Yet with such a stance coming at a time when a £130m asking-price was still being thrown about, an £88.5m transfer fee will prompt questions from a perplexed Liverpool fan-base.
The signing of Alexis Mac Allister from Brighton for an undisclosed fee, with recent reports varying between £35m and £55m courtesy of a release clause inserted into his latest Seagulls contract signed last October, at least suggests the Reds were well aware they would be left fishing in a different pond. The ECHO understands that the Argentina international was earmarked as a key target prior to last winter’s World Cup, after all.
But, with flirtations with Bellingham ongoing over the past two years, it is still head-scratching how Liverpool never came close to signing the England international. They had seemingly been well placed to sign him at the start of the year, and had put off any new midfield signings last summer in favour of waiting it out for the Borussia Dortmund star.
Meanwhile, club sources were open acknowledging the Reds’ interest in the 19-year-old, while Jurgen Klopp commented publicly on the player on a number of occasions. Throw in his close friendships with both Trent Alexander-Arnold and Jordan Henderson on international duty, along with public ‘love-ins’ with club legend Steven Gerrard, and it wasn’t just wishful thinking from a Liverpool fanbase fantasising about the prospect of Bellingham moving to Anfield.
However, come April 11 and the Reds had publicly removed their hat from the ring. And by the end of the month, both Real Madrid and Man City had been informed of the player’s preference to move to the Bernabeu.
The Athletic report that Bellingham had ‘expressed his eagerness to be part of a project including young players with enormous potential,’ with Man City made aware of his decision before the two sides locked horns in the Champions League semi-finals on May 9.
Yet Madrid had reportedly been pessimistic about signing Bellingham just a few months earlier, believing they couldn’t compete financially with the interested Premier League sides. Apparently unable to afford Dortmund’s £130m asking price, they even initially considered €100m to be excessive. Despite this, a compromise was reached with it seemingly a one-horse race for the England international by the time the two clubs thrashed out a deal.
So how, in the space of six months, did Real Madrid go from fearing they would miss out on Bellingham to Liverpool or Man City, to ending up as the only side left standing for his signature?
April was evidently decisive with the Reds pulling out before the midfielder made his decision known.
While the Reds were resigned to a deal becoming too expensive, it is unclear whether such a decision was made with regards to the initial reported asking price or Madrid’s agreed fee.
With Liverpool’s struggles this season also ensuring they were not in a position to blow the majority of their budget on one marquee signing, only club bosses know definitively if such a stance would have been different had the Reds’ engine-room not been in dire need of a multi-body revamp.
Meanwhile, while Bellingham decided upon Real Madrid by the end of April, only those close to the player will be able to answer if his next destination would have been different if Liverpool had still been in the running, or if his mind was already made up. Ultimately, it all comes down to which of the two decisions from club and player came first.
So did the Reds withdraw their interest to save face, acknowledging that such a transfer was no longer feasible, or did an unfortunate build-up of circumstances falling against them result in Bellingham slipping through their fingers?
Either way, Liverpool have again missed out on a player they have been courting since he was an 11-year-old at Birmingham City. For the Reds, this long-running transfer saga has ended unsuccessfully after pulling up short well before the finish line.
*An earlier version of this story was published on June 10th.
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