Jude Bellingham has responded to Steven Gerrard's latest transfer advice in fantastic fashion. The 19-year-old has been heavily linked with an exit from Borussia Dortmund for some time now as he continues to impress for club and country.
He, who sees his contract at the Signal Iduna Park expire in 2025, has been subject to long-term interest from the Blues, football.london understands. The west Londoners watched the midfielder during his time in the Birmingham City academy but, after failing to act on their interest, the German giants swooped in and signed the teenage sensation instead.
Now, Graham Potter is said to be in the market for a new midfielder amid the uncertain futures of N'Golo Kante and Jorginho, who are both set to leave in the summer once their respective deals expire. Bellingham has emerged as a potential candidate to replace the duo but Chelsea look set to face tough competition from the likes of Liverpool.
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Ahead of the Blues' clash with the Reds at Anfield on Saturday, Gerrard encouraged the England international to ignore interest from Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich and, instead, return to England amid fears that he'll get 'swallowed up'. Speaking on BT Sport, the former Aston Villa boss said: "What I would say is that’s important to him that he stays in this country.
"He’s 19 years of age, you’re talking about the Real Madrids, Bayern Munichs, Barcelonas. To leave - and I know he’s doing it at Dortmund now - but them clubs are a higher level than Dortmund and you can get swallowed up, there are a lot of world-class stars and you can get swallowed up by making a move too soon.
"In my opinion staying around England, staying around his country, getting developed as he’s still got growth in him, he can evolve, I think staying in England until a certain age where he hits his peak years is very important for the boy now."
Less than 24 hours after Gerrard doubted Bellingham's ability to keep his head above the water overseas, he responded spectacularly. The midfielder handed Dortmund the lead over Augsburg with a driven effort from just outside the box.
Karim Adeyemi teed Bellingham up but a defender stood in his way. He shimmied left then right before cannoning the ball in at the near post. Despite Liverpool some way off the top four, Gerrard claimed that a move to Anfield is still an attractive prospect.
" The timing of your question is not fair if you like because Liverpool are in the middle of the table, for example, but I’m sure Jude’s bright enough to go hang on," the 42-year-old said. "There’s a stand going up here, this is going to be a 60,000 seater stadium. they’ve got one of the best five managers in the world.
"They’ve won the Premier League of late, they’ve been in Champions League finals of late, they pay very well here - that’s a fact, you have to get that out. they’ve got some fantastic players here, they develop players here so it ticks an awful lot of boxes, but Liverpool at the moment right now are obviously in the middle of the league."
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