As Liverpool plot their summer midfield revamp, Jude Bellingham and Mason Mount are two names that continue to appear most.
The Borussia Dortmund midfielder is believed to be Jurgen Klopp’s first-choice target to strengthen his engine room, while the Chelsea star’s situation is reportedly being monitored by the Reds after he rejected a number of contract offers ahead of his new current deal expiring in 2024.
But Liverpool aren’t the only club said to be interested in the pair, with the likes of Man City and Real Madrid also heavily linked with Bellingham for example. Meanwhile, the Guardian reports that both players are on Manchester United’s transfer shortlist for the summer.
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If the Red Devils are to compete with the Reds, you’d hope both players were watching Liverpool’s 7-0 thrashing of United at Anfield on Sunday rather closely! But beyond the two midfielders, the same report claims United also want to sign Harry Kane.
While Marcus Rashford is enjoying the season of his life so far, scoring 24 goals, the Red Devils are lacking prolific attacking options elsewhere beyond the England international.
Anthony Martial continues to be troubled by injury and has been limited to just six Premier League starts all season as a result, while Mason Greenwood remains suspended.
Meanwhile, Erik ten Hag brought in Wout Weghorst on loan from Championship side Burnley in January after United cancelled Cristiano Ronaldo’s contract. With next to no chance of the Dutchman being signed permanently, it’s clear the Red Devils will sign a new striker in the summer.
The Guardian claims that Ten Hag wants to sign an elite forward with Napoli’s Victor Osimhen on United’s radar. However, Kane is seen as a ‘surer guarantee of Premier League goals,’ and the Dutchman’s ‘preferred option’ as a result.
They also suggest that if United did move for Kane, they are likely to be priced out of a move for Bellingham as a result, handing Liverpool’s own pursuit a boost, with the striker set to cost the bulk of their summer budget. Tottenham did reject an £100m offer from Man City a little over 18 months ago, after all.
Yet as good a player and as prolific a striker as Kane is, if United were to sign the striker, who will celebrate his 30th birthday this summer, they would again be making the very same mistake that Klopp has warned them about twice before.
The German would take a little dig at the Red Devils prior to Sunday’s 7-0 thrashing while discussing their playing squad. With United enjoying a good season, he would praise the impact of midfield duo Casemiro and Christian Eriksen, yet the prominent role of both 31-year-olds after joining the club last summer would present its own problem.
“It is obviously not a team built for the next 20 years because the players they signed are for now,” Klopp pointed out. “But for now it is really good.”
This is not the first time that the German has warned against the short-term thinking which continues to take place at Old Trafford. He also did so in the summer of 2021 prior to their re-signing of Ronaldo.
“It’s not about me to judge that. It’s about if other clubs can do things like this, it’s obviously not business for the future,” he said. “In three or four years we will have the benefit of that, it’s for now and immediately if that happens.
“That is how some clubs are obviously working and that is absolutely fine, but there must be different ways. There must be a team a year later and two years later, for us at least. And three years later as well.
“You need success. We felt that if you can win trophies it is great but it’s not, even with the best squad in the world, possible every year. If that’s not possible, you still need to make sure you develop as a team and a club.
“That’s what we did and that’s what we do. Anything else is really not in our hands. We watch it like all of you and will see what happens.”
Such a stance is in complete contrast to Liverpool’s own transfer model, as owner John W. Henry would reiterate in an exclusive interview with the ECHO published earlier this week.
“Our efforts every day have been and continue to be focused on the long-term health and competitiveness of the club,” the American said. “Investment in the club is never for the short-term. This approach has been successful over the long haul with patience necessary from time to time.
“We continue building at Liverpool Football Club in a responsible manner. We’ve seen many football clubs (including LFC previously) go down unsustainable paths. We have and will continue to focus our attention on investing wisely in the transfer market and we remain incredibly proud of our squad.”
United could well find themselves breaking their own transfer record to sign Kane, with Paul Pogba the current holder after joining for £93.2m back in 2016. The Frenchman would leave for Juventus at the end of his contract last summer, departing on a Bosman as he had done when first quitting Old Trafford in 2012. At least he was 23 when re-signed by the Red Devils.
A 30-year-old Kane would score goals for United, without a doubt, as he has done over the last decade for Spurs. But for how long? Such a swoop would perhaps be reminiscent of their £24m signing of a 29-year-old Robin van Persie from Arsenal in August 2012.
He scored 30 goals in his first season and won the Premier League. Yet, that would remain his only major trophy of his Old Trafford career. Not as prolific over the following two seasons, he left for Fenerbahce in a £3.84m deal in July 2015.
But at least £24m is a fraction of the ‘huge fee’ a reluctant Tottenham would demand for Kane.
Compare that to Liverpool’s own attacking revamp, and the Reds spent a combined initial £138m on Darwin Nunez, Cody Gakpo, and Luis Diaz. With the Uruguayan and Dutchman both 23, and the Colombian just turned 26, Klopp has his attack in place for the rest of the decade. Meanwhile, if they were to spend over £100m on an individual player themselves, it would be on the 19-year-old Bellingham.
Still, United’s transfer business is none of Liverpool’s business. If they want to be so short-sighted, then let them. It’s not a deal you’d see completed at Anfield anytime soon.
But if they really do favour a 29-year-old Kane to a 24-year-old Osimhen, with the England captain not quite as prolific this season yet potentially still costing the larger fee, you wouldn’t be surprised if you caught the Reds’ recruitment team smirking.
And not just because of the deserved pats on the back due their way after Nunez and Gakpo, both former United targets, netted braces each when dismantling the Red Devils in the most emphatic way imaginable last weekend.
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