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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Sport
Keifer MacDonald

'I'll stick' - Carlo Ancelotti drops major Jude Bellingham hint that will encourage Liverpool

Carlo Ancelotti has admitted he is happy with the midfield options Real Madrid currently have at their disposal despite being cited as Liverpool's closest competitor for Jude Bellingham.

The 19-year-old Borussia Dortmund star enjoyed a fine maiden World Cup campaign with England during the winter months as he helped Gareth Southgate's side reach the quarter-final stages, where they were knocked out by 2018 winners France.

Scoring the Three Lions' opening goal of the finals, which came in the 6-2 thrashing of Iran, set the tone for Bellingham to continue to flourish and increase the speculation around his inevitable departure from the Bundesliga outfit at the end of the current season.

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At this moment in time, it is expected to be a repeat of last season's Champions League final to see who wins the race for the highly-coveted former Birmingham City midfielder, while Manchester City are also expected to have an outside chance.

But speaking ahead of Real Madrid's La Liga fixture against Villarreal on Saturday, Ancelotti admitted he is more than happy with the players currently on his books despite such headline-grabbing links.

"Bellingham has shown at the World Cup that he is a great midfielder, but so have others," he said. "Enzo Fernandez has played very well. Gavi and Pedri as well. Bellingham is one of those very good midfielders, but I’ll stick with the ones we have."

The 14-time European Cup winners beat the Reds to the signing of France international Aurelien Tchouameni last summer, and in the year before the arrival of the former Monaco man they added his highly-rated compatriot Eduardo Camavinga to their ranks.

However, they did wave goodbye to the long-serving Casemiro after their triumph over Jurgen Klopp's side at the Parc de Prince as the Brazilian joined Manchester United. Meanwhile, the deals of both Luka Modric and Toni Kroos are set to expire in June.

Liverpool, though, are not anticipated to add a midfielder to their ranks this month and are instead expected to go all-out to secure Bellingham's signature at the end of the season.

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