Liverpool head coach Jürgen Klopp has this evening confirmed that the Reds attempted to sign Jude Bellingham prior to his move to Real Madrid.
Midfielder Bellingham has of course dominated the headlines in not only Spain, but across all of Europe, to this point in the 2023/24 campaign.
This comes as the England international continues to dazzle for Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid.
All told, across his first 26 appearances in the colours of Los Blancos, Bellingham, remarkably, has racked up exactly 26 goal contributions.
Such scintillating form has even seen the 20-year-old receive early shouts for the next Ballon d’Or award.
And yet, had his future played out differently, another of Europe’s leading clubs could have found themselves the beneficiaries of Bellingham’s generational talents.
Speaking to the media on Wednesday, Liverpool head coach Jürgen Klopp provided an insight into the efforts of the Anfield brass to reinforce his midfield last summer.
And, in doing, so, the German confirmed that the Reds missed out on the former Borussia Dortmund standout to Real:
“We wanted Bellingham and realised it would not happen.”
Klopp continued:
“We thought we could maybe do Caicedo. So we went in… but he had an emotional agreement already with Chelsea and Pochettino. Lavia had his own reasons. So we were there.
“We were lucky… we found Wataru,” he concluded.
Conor Laird | GSFN
