Darren Bent has urged Liverpool to prioritise a move for Jude Bellingham over Mason Mount. 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.
Bellingham, 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 as an academy player at Birmingham City but, after failing to act on their interest, the German giants swooped in and signed the teenage sensation instead.
As Europe's biggest clubs look to further their midfield options, the Dortmund star has become one of the most coveted young players. But, with a number of top clubs set to lock horns over Bellingham's signature in the summer, Liverpool have been credited with interest in Mount, who has emerged as a cheaper option.
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The Cobham graduate will have just 12 months remaining on his deal at Stamford Bridge come June. As it stands, with Mount yet to pen an extension, he's set to be available for a cut-price fee in the summer — albeit he's currently valued at £71million by CIES Football Observatory.
Despite this, Bent has encouraged Jurgen Klopp's side to ditch a move for the Chelsea star in favour of Bellingham. Speaking on talkSPORT, the former Tottenham striker said: "Mason Mount is a funny one because Liverpool are sniffing.
"Mount’s a good player but you can’t get them both. If you can get Bellingham or Mason Mount, you’re going Bellingham, right?"
According to Sky Sports in January, Bellingham's father has been in contact with Liverpool. The report stated that Klopp is keen to bring the youngster to Anfield.
And, it's said that Dortmund will not stand in the Englishman's way should he seek an exit in the summer. As quoted by ESPN, the German outfit's CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke said: "We will hold talks now, as soon as [the World Cup in] Qatar is over, and then we'll have a fundamental talk about what he would like.
"He just needs to tell us if he'd like to stay or if he'd like to go. In both cases, we'll talk about it very pleasantly and reasonably together. In general, we can imagine that he'd stay with us, but we can't behave as if this topic wasn't on the table. If he says 'I'd like to do something else,' then the really big [clubs] in Europe will be there and we can't afford to fight financially."
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