Liverpool should use Philippe Coutinho to beat Real Madrid to $151m Jude Bellingham transfer
It's recently been suggested that Real Madrid are the 'favorites' to sign Liverpool target Jude Bellingham, but Jürgen Klopp can appeal to his love of Steven Gerrard.
"Stay here and they will end up building a statue in your honor," Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp told Philippe Coutinho in the 2017/18 season as he pushed for his dream move.
"Go somewhere else, to Barcelona, to Bayern Munich, and you will just be another player," he warned (via The Mirror). "Here you can be something more."
As it turned out, Coutinho, who had his heart set on turning out for the Blaugrana, ignored Klopp's advice and went ahead and forced through his $173m (£142m/€160m) move in January 2018.
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He would never come close to living up to that price tag. By the spring of 2019, he was being booed by Barcelona's fans, and Klopp's prediction was coming true. Three years later, after a loan at Bayern Munich, he sealed a permanent move to mid-table Premier League side Aston Villa.
Coutinho would have looked on ruefully as Liverpool lifted the Champions League and won the title in his absence.
Virgil van Dijk and Alisson, the players signed with the proceeds of his sale, were vital ingredients in that success, but it's still tempting to wonder how differently things might have played out had Coutinho stayed. He was certainly on the path to legendary status at Anfield.
Now Liverpool finds themselves in another transfer tussle with one of the Spanish giants. This time, it's Real Madrid, and it's over the signature of Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jude Bellingham.
In recent weeks, there's been a sense that Los Blancos might be gaining some ground in the battle. Journalist Guillem Balague said recently that Real is now 'quite clearly' the 'favorite' to sign Bellingham and is willing to pay the $151m (£124m/€140m) package Dortmund is demanding (via ITV Sport).
But if Bellingham was to move to the Santiago Bernabéu, to what extent would he be 'just another player' too?
The 19-year-old would simply slot into Real Madrid's next-generation midfield alongside other elite talents like Eduardo Camavinga, Aurélien Tchouaméni and, potentially, Federico Valverde.
Yes, Bellingham might be the biggest star within that group, but he could still be 'something more' at Anfield, to use Klopp's words once again.
The former Birmingham City man has repeatedly worshipped Steven Gerrard and much like his idol a couple of generations ago, he could make Liverpool his team.
Bellingham can be the man who leads Liverpool's midfield refresh and with it, the launch of the next great side. That, after all, is the key ingredient to re-establishing the Reds as a contender for Europe's biggest prizes.
With the exception of Trent Alexander-Arnold, the team's established superstars are aging. Virgil van Dijk and Thiago are both 31, the same age Mohamed Salah will be come June.
While they should still have a few more years at the top end of them, the time will soon come when a new talisman will have to emerge. That is when Liverpool would look to Bellingham.
The reality is that his importance to the Reds far exceeds his importance to Madrid. If Liverpool loses out, it will be a devastating and somewhat embarrassing blow, but if Real loses out, attention will simply turn to the next Galáctico instead. Its current options are hardly unsatisfactory.
As both clubs try to persuade him, this could be the decisive factor. Joining this Liverpool side in the wake of its collapse is clearly a greater challenge than joining a Real team that remains among the best in Europe, but in a sense, that makes the move to Anfield more appealing. The rewards, in terms of creating a legacy, are far greater.
"You can have all the money you want from playing football," Bellingham tellingly said on the official Dortmund podcast (via bundesliga.com).
"But being appreciated for creating so many memories for so many people — for winning the league, however many cups, and winning the Champions League — that lives longer than any car you could buy, or house you could buy.
"That's the thing that motivates me to create memories in football that I'll remember forever, and other people will remember forever."
This level of success is merely expected at Real, but it is truly cherished at Liverpool, and as such, Bellingham would be given the 'appreciation' he craves.
Klopp will no doubt appeal to those instincts when he has the opportunity to speak with the teenager. Indeed, it wouldn't be a surprise if he used the 'Coutinho logic' once again, this time to secure what could be a transformative signing.
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