Liverpool

Liverpool

Premier League • England

Liverpool, Man Utd midfield target a ‘beast’ and a player ‘we have not seen like this’, claims Ferdinand

Rio Ferdinand, April 2022

Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand insists ‘we haven’t seen’ a player like the midfield target Liverpool and the Red Devils United are chasing ‘for his age’.

Borussia Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham helped guide his team to a 4-1 Champions League win at Sevilla, scoring and laying on an assist while also captaining the side in Spain as Raphael Guerreiro, Karim Adeyemi and Julian Brandt also found the target.

The 19-year-old became just the second teenager to score in the first three games of a Champions League campaign.

The only other player to achieve that incredible feat is his former Dortmund team-mate Erling Haaland, who did so with Salzburg.

And working for BT Sport, Ferdinand was in awe of the former Birmingham youngster.

He said: “What he’s doing in his position at his age, we haven’t seen.

“The best of our generation, [Frank] Lampard, [Steven] Gerrard, [Paul] Scholes, [Patrick] Vieira, Roy Keane, they weren’t doing this.

“He’s still got to go on and prove it over a long period of time, but they weren’t doing what he is doing right now [at the same age].

“Influencing games at this level, captaining teams at this level, and mentally this kid’s a beast.”

Dortmund star simply unstoppable

Fellow pundit Joe Cole was also glowing in his praise for Bellingham, adding: “Along with Erling Haaland, he’s the best young player in the world, that’s for sure.

“I watched him play for England over the two [Nations League] games [against Italy and Germany] and he was our best player.

“His dad I believe was a semi-pro footballer so he’s obviously been guided right… When we grew up with Frank [Lampard] and his dad was a footballer obviously, a top footballer, and Frank had this maturity about him… Bellingham’s got that as well, coupled with his undoubted God-given talent and his drive, he’s unstoppable.”

Bellingham is being strongly linked with a return to England, with Liverpool and United major suitors. There has even been mention of a proposed swap deal with Anfield star Naby Keita.

Chelsea are also in the running, along with Spanish giants Real Madrid. And Ferdinand believes whoever snaps up the midfielder will get an incredible talent.

He added: “One thing that’s for sure – whoever gets him – is [his] temperament.

“When you’re making big transfers and big moves like that in the spotlight, temperament is a key element you need to get right. This kid has already proved that it isn’t a question mark.”

Bellingham a MUST sign for Liverpool

If Jurgen Klopp signs only one player for Liverpool in 2023 it simply has to be Jude Bellingham.

He ticks every box from a midfield point of view that the German currently needs from his engine room.

The youngster can run all day, tackles, provides assists, scores goals and dictates matches due to all of the aforementioned.

Bellingham is a real generational talent and someone who Klopp could build a new Liverpool side around for the next five or six years.

The current Reds engine room of Fabinho, Jordan Henderson and Thiago is starting to look pedestrian. To that end, it’s clearly an area that needs a significant overhaul.

Harvey Elliott has at least shown flashes that he can be the future in the position. But just imagine Fabinho sitting, with Bellingham and Elliott in front of him and all of a sudden Klopp has a bit of everything in a fresh midfield mix.

Yes, Bellingham will not come cheap, with Dortmund wanting a figure of around £131million. However, given what he is doing on the big stage of the Champions League and in Germany there’s no doubt he is worth every penny.

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