Jude Bellingham is a generational talent, whose shirt is adorned by the number 22 because he can play as a number 4, as an 8 and a 10 all at the same time.
But as Liverpool will find out if they are banking on a £120m summer move for Bellingham to solve their engine room issues at a stroke, there are some midfield voids too big for even him to fill.
Jurgen Klopp’s big red machine is broken, and it doesn’t take a genius to work at why. At their best – and they were just an Aston Villa collapse and a Real Madrid revival away from the quadruple six months ago – Klopp’s way demands intensity, drive, physicality, athleticism and unity from the group.
But those qualities have been absent at Anfield for a large part of this curious season. Results, like a recent four-match winning run, have often hidden underlying anxieties about Liverpool’s shortcomings which start with a misfiring midfield.
The rest of the Premier League senses blood in the water. A team that was widely feared in the second half of last season for their extraordinary pressing game have become, in the words of one Premier League rival, the side everyone suddenly fancies their chances against.
“They’re in transition. It feels like a team that has been together a little too long,” a Premier League rival whose team has recently played them surmised to i.
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It is the last one of those which will hurt Klopp in his moments of quiet reflection the most. He railed against Brentford’s strong-arm tactics and supposed refereeing inconsistencies after the 3-1 defeat to Brentford on Monday but those words felt like mealy-mouthed excuses in the face of being well beaten in west London.
The real fault lies elsewhere, not least the baffling decision to wait out the last two transfer windows without signing the midfield replacements they so desperately need. The official explanation is they want the Mr Right for their midfield, not Mr Right Now. When number one summer target Aurelien Tchouameni opted for Real Madrid, they opted to keep their powder dry – presumably with Bellingham in mind.
“They’ve tried to move into a new phase but the younger players they’ve bought or are trying to integrate like Harvey Elliot aren’t quite ready and the established, older players are probably slightly in decline,” the Premier League rival said of their issues.
“In the long-term they’ll be alright because those younger players are very talented, but that’s probably not much comfort to them if they don’t make the Champions League.”
The word in transfer circles is that Liverpool are piling their chips on England’s newest star Bellingham. Without limitless funds, the package demanded by Borussia Dortmund for their star man might only be affordable in the summer when a total midfield reset will be forced on them by Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and James Milner all becoming free agents.
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Bellingham would certainly lift the level of any team he joined but he needs to be accompanied by a top class defensive midfielder if Liverpool are going to really reassert themselves on a Premier League chasing pack that waits for no man.
i understands that they have watched Atalanta’s Netherlands midfieder Teun Koopmeiners in recent months and the move for Cody Gakpo illustrates the increasing Dutch influence on Liverpool, no doubt helped along by Klopp’s prominent assistant coach Pep Lijnders.
Without a transfer market magic wand, Liverpool have to get back to the fundamentals. “No weakness,” was Newcastle captain Jamaal Lascelles’ verdict when i asked him for Liverpool’s secret after coming up against them at their best in April.
“They have hard-working players. Sometimes you get world-class players who don’t want to press properly or work as hard off-the-ball. But every one of them does the dirty side as well and that is what makes them a fantastic team.”
They are words that should be pinned up in the Melwood dressing room. Rediscovering those values is the only way Liverpool can rescue a season at a crossroads.
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