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Rio Ferdinand criticized Liverpool’s chances of signing Jude Bellingham after his torrid season so far, while former team-mate Owen Hargreaves said the youngster will be drawn to “a project”.
BT pundits debated Bellingham’s future on Wednesday night, with most of Europe’s top clubs currently vying for the youngster’s signature after his meteoric rise at Borussia Dortmund.
And while Liverpool seemed to be among the favorites for some time, Ferdinand and Hargreaves were at odds over whether they were still a viable option for the 19-year-old.
The Reds have become one of the best teams in the world under Jurgen Klopp in recent years, reaching three of the last five Champions League finals, but suffered a 5-2 humiliation at home to Real Madrid and occupy eighth place in the Premier League.
Liverpool are also currently in transition with an expected squad overhaul targeting both defense and midfield, and it was for this reason that Ferdinand suggested Bellingham could look elsewhere.
Jude Bellingham will likely be the prize in a massive bidding war this summer between many of Europe’s top clubs.
Rio Ferdinand believes that Liverpool will not even be on his ‘radar’ after his bad campaign
“A year ago, six months ago, I don’t think Jude Bellingham would even question Liverpool’s trajectory because they were in a different place and they’re in the draw for where he’s going to go,” the ex-Englander began. center of the back.
“At the moment, I don’t think they’re even on his radar and that will be very disappointing for Liverpool fans to hear.”
“I think the club is in a transition at the moment, the club is for sale, whatever it is, and what is more important, the team is not playing well and there is a transition of players in the team.” There are some older players who need to change and move on and there are some young players.
“The way things are going at Liverpool, I think he’s going to look at him and think ‘I want to be a challenge right now’, and I don’t think he will be.”
‘Is he going into it or is he going to a team that looks like it’s going to win soon or right now? Real Madrid has to be first on the list right now.’
But former Manchester United midfielder Hargreaves was of the opposite opinion, suggesting that a ‘project’ is exactly what the youngster will want to be a part of when he finally decides on his future.
“I think he takes a project where he realizes he can have the biggest impact.
“I think he might like (the situation in Liverpool) because he can get them back to where they should be.”
Owen Hargreaves insisted Bellingham would pick a ‘project’ for his next club
The Reds were thrashed 5-2 at home by Real Madrid in the Champions League round of 16
At 19, Bellingham is already among the leading midfielders in world football, and is in a prime position for any club to build a team around him and move forward with another 10-15 years at the highest level to go.
The England star, who excelled at the World Cup for the Three Lions, has already made 119 appearances for Dortmund, scoring 20 and assisting 24 others, and has captained the team four times this season.
As such, Liverpool are not the only team interested in his services, and the hugely impressive youngster will have a difficult decision to make this summer, with Dortmund also increasingly optimistic of keeping him.
But several of the Reds’ key stars, namely Trent Alexander-Arnold and Jordan Henderson, have been quick to seize any opportunity to get closer to the Dortmund midfielder.
The Liverpool pair often appeared alongside him in Qatar at the World Cup with England, something Hargreaves suggested would “play a big part” in luring him to Merseyside.
“I think he picks a project, I don’t know which one because obviously the World Cup photos of him sitting with Jordan Henderson and Trent Alexander-Arnold said a lot,” Hargreaves said. “I think (Jurgen) Klopp told them ‘you mark it wherever you go’ and that plays a big role.
“When I saw that, I thought it looked like they were working on it.”
The Reds are currently in a transition period with the team set to be reviewed in the near future.
Ferdinand suggested that Real Madrid top the list, while Hargreaves agreed that Los Blancos are ‘different’ from other clubs.
But the former England international agreed with his club and country teammate that Real Madrid would present a major hurdle in Liverpool’s search for the player.
Both Los Blancos and their El Clásico rivals Barcelona are also interested in the midfielder, and they have traditionally proven difficult for Premier League sides to beat in a bidding war.
“What he did in the World Cup, he put himself on a pedestal where Barcelona and Real Madrid were thinking ‘he should start for us,'” added the former Bayern Munich star.
“When they call, we have seen it with Cristiano (Ronaldo), the Premier League is powerful, but Barcelona and Real Madrid are slightly different.”