With each increasingly impressive Jude Bellingham performance for England at the Qatar World Cup, Jurgen Klopp is likely wincing just that little bit more.
Bellingham's talent as one of the stars of Borussia Dortmund at the age of just 19 means he is hardly a well-kept continental secret, but more and more people are being alerted to the ability of an all-action midfielder who seems to have the lot.
The BVB man was outstanding for the Three Lions as they beat Senegal 3-0 on last night to advance to the quarter-finals for a mouth-watering clash against France. Bellingham's relationship with Jordan Henderson and Trent Alexander-Arnold appears to be a very healthy one, with the Reds skipper's goal sparking serious celebrations - and a handshake emoji on Instagram after the match.
Liverpool will be one of the clubs expected to contest the battle for Bellingham's signature next summer if Dortmund accept that they can no longer keep their teenage sensation at Westfalenstadion - and the Reds' interest is a long-standing one that dates back to his days as a junior footballer.
Here the ECHO assesses the lay of the land and what Liverpool's chances actually are of landing one of the brightest young talents in world football next year...
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A major cause for uncertainty at the moment when it comes to recruitment - most pertinently in January - is Liverpool's ownership situation. Fenway Sports Group have confirmed they are seeking further external investment but they are also exploring their exit strategy, having employed two major US banks in Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to search for potential buyers outright. Latest indications are that there will be no shortage of suitors.
With just weeks until the winter window opens that makes things a bit more complicated. Liverpool insist it is 'business as usual' and, in a way, the self-sufficient manner in which the club is run means there is merit in that when it comes to the funding of transfers. On the flip side, however, if the Reds are in need of further investment beyond what they are able to organically generate as a business, it remains to be seen if the owners are willing to stump up a potential club-record deal at the same time they are looking to quietly engineer a sale.
Reports in Germany have varied over the valuation of Bellingham but it's generally accepted he will cost anywhere north of £100m. That in itself presents a problem for the Reds but not necessarily an insurmountable one. The club showed in the summer they are not averse to spending big on a player they believe can be a star of the team for the long term.
Darwin Nunez could yet become a club-record signing at £85m but his initial arrival saw Liverpool pay Benfica £64m when he signed on a six-year deal. The £21m worth of add-ons range from goals scored to winning the Champions League. Anfield officials believe the Uruguay international will end up costing at least £75m. The club have never paid as much in future add-ons but their £13m of additional fees for Luis Diaz in January suggests it is a trend that will continue going forward, something that might help in any pursuit of Bellingham.
It was reported in September that Dortmund, who brought Bellingham to Germany for £25m in the summer of 2020, were planning to offer their No.22 a new contract but he departed for the World Cup without any extension officially penned, no doubt safe in the knowledge he will be the subject of intense interest in 2023.
Dortmund, despite their reputation as Bayern Munich's perennial challenges for the Bundesliga title, are no doubt one of the elite selling clubs of European football. Over the past decade or so, BVB have lost the likes of Mario Gotze, Shinji Kagawa, Mats Hummels, Ilkay Gunodgan, Ousmane Dembele, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Jadon Sancho and Erling Haaland to clubs generally considered further up the food chain.
Given that lengthy list, there's no reason to believe Bellingham won't follow suit, despite the price tags named in German media and Dortmund's public reluctance to discuss a sale of their starlet.
Bellingham was an Under-11 at the Birmingham academy when Liverpool first made known their interest in the youngster. A report in The Athletic earlier this year stated he was invited, alongside his parents Denise and Mark, to take part in a two-day trial at the Kirkby Academy before being given a guided tour of the facilities.
It was hoped Bellingham's parents would agree to the offer and enroll their son in Rainhill High School, where the club send all their schoolboys but Bellingham senior, who himself was a prolific striker at semi-professional level, opted, along with his wife, to keep the family rooted in the Midlands.
Liverpool respected the Bellinghams' decision but have no doubt kept tabs on someone who eventually made his professional debut at the age of 16. Bellingham senior continues to have a huge say in the career of his teenage son and it would be no real shock if the leading clubs of European football hadn't already registered their admiration directly.
Bellingham reportedly earns £2.6m a year at Borussia Dortmund, which equates to a weekly wage of around £50,000. Even in the extravagant world of professional football, it's not an insignificant sum for someone who won't turn 20 until June next year, but the England midfielder will certainly be in line for a sizable pay hike, should he decide to seek pastures new before the start of next season.
While the transfer fee itself could yet prove problematic for the Reds, wages shouldn't be prohibitive. Bellingham's personal terms, given the player's age and relative inexperience, are likely to fall into the mid-range at Anfield.
For example, the club sanctioned the biggest-ever contract in its history for Mohamed Salah in June with the Egyptian earning around £350,000 on a heavily-incentivised deal centred largely about his exploits in front of goal.
Anfield officials won't make a habit of handing down similar sums for incoming players, regardless of any one player's particular promise - not immediately, at least - so Bellingham might expect to earn somewhere around the £140,000 mark at Anfield in the same mould of Nunez, Diaz and, prior to his summer extension, Diogo Jota.
Liverpool feel that ballpark figure is sufficient for a top-level footballer but crucially allows room for further remuneration for anyone whose performances and development warrant it. Jota is a perfect case in point. The Portugal international has enjoyed an outstanding rise since his move to the club over two years ago and was rewarded for his 21-goal campaign last time out with a new deal in early August.
Anfield chiefs consider that general structure to be reasonable and responsible and Liverpool's wage bill won't be overburdened by any move for Bellingham, particularly if one or both of Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain depart.
At 20 years of age, Bellingham will have ample opportunity to rise through the ranks of the Anfield pay scale, should he decide that Liverpool is the place for him next year and the youngster has previously stated how financial rewards aren't the biggest motivating factor for him.
"I would sit in the stands and people would always talk about the goals [my dad] scored, this goal or that goal against this team and that was always nice to hear, you know," he told England's official YouTube channel last month. "Beyond the money and all of that rubbish, that's the feeling I want from football. I want to win as much as possible and make people enjoy watching me and hopefully, I am doing that."
Those comments came on the back of ones he gave to the BVB Podcast in September when he said: “You can have all the money you want from playing football and you can buy whatever you want, but being appreciated like that for creating so many memories for so many people.
“Winning the league, however many cups and winning the Champions League, that lives longer than any car you could buy or any house you could buy. That’s the thing that motivates me to create memories in football that I will remember forever and other people will remember forever."
It was Liverpool's belief in the spring of 2022 that they were top heavy with central midfielders. With as many as eight on the payroll and Fabio Carvalho set to join, it was a stance that was understandable to an extent. It was something Klopp reaffirmed publicly when he sat down with a handful of reporters on the eve of the Thailand trip in July.
"I don’t think something will happen in midfield, but you never know," said Klopp. "If somebody comes to you and says ‘I want to go’," Klopp said on the eve of Liverpool's flight out to Thailand in mid-July. "Nobody came to me yet, but if that happens then we have to talk [again]. But if the situation stays like it is, then tell me why?
"I don’t understand. I do not understand. People told me about this discussion, but the last thing that would have crossed my mind is that we have to do this [sign a midfielder]. I know all these things, that we don’t score enough goals from midfield, this and that, but what do we want? This ‘Golden Cow’ that is producing absolutely everything, milk as well!"
"We can go through it," he continued. "Where do you want to start? So, Fabinho, Henderson, Thiago, Milner, Keita, Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott, Fabio Carvalho, Oxlade-Chamberlain. Now you tell me what kind of player are we missing? One who is offensive, 1.95m and arrives into the box to head balls in? OK, apart from that!
"We have three players in the squad who can easily play as a No.6 - Fabinho, of course, but Hendo and Milly played it fine. Creativity? If we bring in a player just for that, we immediately make it more difficult for Harvey, Curtis and Fabio.
"They can all play different positions as well of course, Curtis can play a line higher and Harvey and Fabio can play there too. Fine. We can play a different system as well, where we might only need two midfielders, but then all these guys can play as a No.10 in the new system. So where is the need for a midfielder? The day when somebody comes to me and tells me why exactly."
The message around Bellingham, privately, was consistent, despite the ongoing noise around speculation and interest: 'Definitely not this summer! 2023 is a different story.'
Klopp was unwilling to hide his admiration in Bellingham, however, when asked directly in that same July meeting, saying pointedly: "He’s not on the market, so that’s the first problem with that player. Well, [that's] the only problem with that player!"
It was also telling that Klopp barely flickered in a recent press conference at the AXA Centre when a question around the potential sale of the club was put to him by asking if they would be able to afford Bellingham as a result of any future upheaval.
"In the structure we had we, obviously we were able to spend money, but it was always that we had to look at what did we earn? Are we around where we will come out at the end? That was always clear," Klopp said.
"We all know the two biggest transfers in the past - this year was Darwin, which was in between - were Alisson and Virgil (van Dijk). We all knew how it happened. We got money from Barcelona and spent it wisely I would say, so that is the situation.
"For me, how we did it so far brought us to where we are, that is all fine, but fresh money is no mistake, let me say it like this. Nothing gets cheaper. There is an inflation rate for all of us but in football as well.
"Yes, sometimes you have to spend. We are really happy to give all our young kids a chance and I am so positive about the impact they will have in the future, whenever that starts.
"Like Harvey Elliott now, Stefan Bajcetic, Cavlin Ramsay, Ben Doak, Bobby Clark, they are all interesting but from time to time you have to throw in proven quality. In an ideal world they are young as well! Or at least not 35.
"So yes, from time to time you have to take some risks and we will see. I have no idea what will happen, but I am positive about it. In the end if it is not positive, I can start worrying but I just think everything will be fine."
Some supporters have become excited by Bellingham's openness in referencing Steven Gerrard as one of his heroes growing up. The Dortmund star didn't hesitate when asked what two former England players he would pick to play alongside recently, quickly naming Gerrard before settling on Wayne Rooney as his second choice and the No.22 has never been shy about revealing his appreciation for the legendary former Reds captain.
“Gerrard was probably my biggest [hero],” he also said before England's World Cup opener with Iran. “The character he has besides the football is world class and then you add on his ability and it’s a joke really. Obviously, when your heroes take the time to appreciate what you’ve done it’s really special. But I'm not sure how I feel because you know, it’s almost a bit disrespectful to him really, with all he’s achieved in the game, to then say that after three years we have similarities."
Quite how much of a factor - if any - such things will play in any future decision is difficult to gauge but the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of someone he greatly respects in the iconic Gerrard is an intriguing factor, as is his burgeoning friendship with Trent Alexander-Arnold that has been built during their time on the England pitches together.
One aspect that is likely to work against Liverpool was their inability or unwillingness to test the waters last summer. A starring role for England at the World Cup will inevitably increase the interest in Bellingham but there's also a school of thought that suggests that fewer roadblocks were in Klopp's path last summer as opposed to the next one.
Last summer, Real Madrid (Aurelien Tchouameni), Manchester United (Casemiro and Christian Eriksen), Manchester City (Kalvin Phillips), Paris Saint-Germain (Vitinha, Renato Sanches and Fabian Ruiz), Juventus (Paul Pogba) and Bayern Munich (Ryan Gravenberch) all signed central midfielders. Had Liverpool decided that an aggressive pursuit of Bellingham was to form the bulk of their transfer work last summer, they would surely have encountered fewer competitors as a result.
If the boat hasn't necessarily been missed, Liverpool will almost certainly find that there are more passengers to wade through in 2023
*A version of this story was first published on 30th November..
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