The blow was softened by the revelation that Liverpool had secured a deal for the midfielder this summer. The club did not sleep when Bellingham left at one point and Klopp welcomed Alexis McAllister in time for pre-season. Dominik Soboszlai soon followed, with Wataru Endo and Ryan Gravenbirch coming later. All have made important contributions in their own way. But in this restart, Klopp realized he could not forget his established midfield.
While many made a clean break by going to Saudi Arabia and elsewhere, Liverpool had some decent midfield talent before the club arrived. Thiago has yet to face any difficulties in selection due to his injury for the season and is expected to move on when his contract expires at the end of the season. He could bring real quality to the title race but is not part of Klopp’s long-term vision for Liverpool 2.0. Conversely, Harvey Elliott and Curtis Jones certainly do, as does Stefan Bajcetic (although the sample size is small). And while the Spaniard has spent most of the season alongside his compatriot, Klopp has been free to use the other two despite his brilliant play in midfield. Both are facing a decline in starting appearances but will play important roles for Liverpool. In fact, Jones stands out in the stats this season, trailing Bellingham to a particularly interesting extent. According to Rousing the Kop, Jones has the second-most goals per 90 minutes of any midfielder in Europe’s top five leagues this season (minimum 900 minutes played in all competitions). Of course, his 0.51 is still overshadowed by Bellingham’s 1.08, but that says more about how the former Dortmund player has been used in Madrid. With Liverpool looking at Bellingham, there will be no doubt about the popular Anfield system.
One of the things that made him so attractive to Klopp was his ability to do everything from midfield. It looked like a dream eight for the Reds manager. However, Carlo Ancelotti uses him as an attacking midfielder rather than a central midfielder (Transfermarkt). In one game, he was classified as a shadow forward.
It is unclear when Liverpool will succeed, but the club are understood to be keen to add midfielder Jude Bellingham to Jurgen Klopp’s squad following his move from Borussia Dortmund to Real Madrid. Before the move he was a future superstar, but now he is a real player. With 13 goals and two assists in 17 La Liga games, Bellingham is the main reason Real Madrid are at the top of the table. He was just as effective in the Champions League, which is a shame for Liverpool and Klopp.
