da winzada777： Jude Bellingham is a name on the lips of many supporters of Liverpool right now. He was before the World Cup got underway three weeks ago and since then, he has only elevated himself higher in the minds of English football fans.
da realsbet： Bellingham has been linked with plenty of clubs in the Premier League of late, no less than Manchester United and their rivals at Anfield.
Recent reports suggest Liverpool are leading the race for his signature in what could be a club-record deal and if they can complete a move, it would be one of the most impressive pieces of business in their long history.
After all, the central midfielder has shown during the World Cup that at the tender age of 19, he is already an elite talent.
The teenager has run the show on plenty of occasions, netting his nation’s first goal of the World Cup before playing an important role in assisting his potential new clubmate in Jordan Henderson for the opener against Senegal.
He even showed an iconic piece of leadership after Harry Kane’s missed penalty against France. He dashed over to the England skipper to console him in what was a remarkable show of solitude for someone so young.
For the most part, the Borussia Dortmund sensation enjoyed a fabulous time in Qatar, but there was one game where the Liverpool target failed to live up to the hype – the 0-0 draw with USA.
In that match, he came up against one of the most promising midfield trios in the competition with Gareth Southgate’s men struggling to contend with Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams and Yunus Musah.
Coincidentally, the latter has also been on Liverpool’s radar in the last few weeks with any move set to cost a whopping £86m if his release clause at Valencia is met.
Once on the books of Arsenal, he “dusted Bellingham” in the words of Joey Barton during that encounter, truly showing the Dortmund ace who is boss.
Musah, who is only 20 years of age himself, completed 83% of his passes, won two tackles and was victorious in 100% of his aerial duels.
As for Bellingham, he was dragged off on 69 minutes having failed to register a single shot, key pass or successful dribble. It was a performance completely out of character with how the rest of the tournament went for the Three Lions star.
In that clash, however, Jurgen Klopp got an indication of why he must sign Musah.
Indeed, his all-round game and box-to-box qualities could be perfect for a Liverpool midfield that is in dire need of improvement.
It is the weakest area of the squad with James Milner, Jordan Henderson and Thiago now all in their 30s. Furthermore, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita are out of contract next summer and Arthur Melo is only on loan.
Recruitments are much-needed, therefore, and in Musah, they could find the ideal solution.
During the World Cup, Musah showcased what a superb talent he is, making one shot, one dribble and 0.8 key passes a game as a marker of his influence in the final third.
From a defensive point of view, the American completed two tackles and 0.5 interceptions per fixture, while being dribbled past on just 0.5 occasions a match.
With that in mind, he is clearly an asset in multiple phases of play and one who could help the Reds greatly.
Rather than signing multiple players to plug a more defensive and offensive gap, they could just choose Musah, a young individual who can seemingly do an awful lot.
All he needs to do now is just add more goals to his game, scoring just five times in 81 outings for Valencia.
The USMNT star has seemingly taken on a deeper role in Spain, with his numbers in the Arsenal U18s far more impressive when he got forward, finding the net on five occasions again but this time in only 18 outings.
If he could begin to replicate that sort of form at senior level, he may well become one of the most unstoppable midfielders in European football.
Bellingham has already proven he is that but Musah, despite being a year older, is a rawer talent.
Klopp should be able to extract his potential, and in the process unlock the key to solving Liverpool’s midfield issue.