Henderson and Arnold close in on Klopp: blow for VARdrid and City

England are through to the last 16 of the World Cup in Qatar. Gareth Southgate's side have gone through as group winners after beating Wales and Iran and drawing against the United States and will face Senegal in the next round. This means the England squad will stay until at least 4 December in Qatar and their players will spend more days together. This may seem an irrelevant issue, but it could prove crucial to Jude Bellingham's decision in the future, with Liverpool's players reported by the BBC to be acting as agents to tip the balance in his favour.

Liverpool, along with Real Madrid and Manchester City as the main candidates, although not the only ones, Chelsea were also interested but it seems that they will finally go for Declan Rice, is one of the teams that is betting the strongest on Jude Bellingham. Jürgen Klopp sees his signing as essential to regain the strength and balance in midfield that the Reds are missing this year. The players themselves know this and Trent Alexander-Arnold and Jordan Henderson, team-mates, seem to be acting as agents at the World Cup.

More Liverpool news:

Sadio Mané's reaction to Senegal's elimination at the hands of England

Trent Alexander Arnold's grimace at being left on the bench and not playing against Senegal

According to the BBC, 'Agent Trent', as Alexander-Arnold is called, and Henderson have reportedly had more than one conversation with Jude Bellingham and have been seen alone together on more than one occasion, but the Liverpool full-back has been keen to play down the issue, claiming their talks have nothing to do with his future: "A few of us went out yesterday, they gave us the day off, so we had a decent day. I'm just going out with a mate, aren't I, everyone says 'Agent Trent' but no...", Arnold pointed out.

The truth is that the good feeling in the locker room is a more than important reason to sign or not to sign for a team. Manchester City's Walker, Philips and Foden also share a dressing room with him, but Liverpool's players seem to have taken the lead, while Real Madrid, on the other hand, do not have a single member of Southgate's squad.

Wanting to bring Bellingham closer to Anfield

Small details matter, and while Jude Bellingham will spend 45 days - or less, depending on how far England go - in training with his potential future team-mates, Real Madrid are staying away and within the squad, it is Liverpool's players who seem to have taken the initiative. We will see if the strategy ends up working.