Will he do it twice? Bellingham has already turned Liverpool down once

Jude Bellingham is set to be one of the greatest generational talents in European football. In just two seasons, he has already made 100 appearances for Borussia, scoring 13 goals and providing 18 assists. That is why the now 19-year-old Borussia Dortmund midfielder has half of Europe following him closely. As The Athletic reports, "Real Madrid, Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea are all very interested in him", although Liverpool are one of the teams leading the race for the England international. However, Jürgen Klopp's side will not find it easy to prise Bellingham away from Dortmund.

"High-level Dortmund sources have dismissed suggestions that they are already resigned to losing Bellingham next summer. They insist there has been no contact with Liverpool," they say, adding that the Borussian side "intend to offer him improved terms in the hope he will sign a contract extension and continue his eye-catching development in Germany", where he still has two years left on his two-year deal with Borussia Dortmund until 2024.

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Whether it is after the Qatar 2022 World Cup or in the next summer transfer window, the Reds' next bid for the England midfielder, as well as being expensive - "Dortmund insist he is valued at around €150m" - would be neither the first nor the second for Jude Bellingham. "Liverpool's interest in Bellingham goes back almost a decade," reports The Athletic. The Athletic reports that when the then Birmingham City youth player was at Under-11 level, he "travelled to Merseyside with his parents Denise and Mark to spend two days at their academy in Kirkby".

"During his stay, he made a big impression on the staff. Liverpool were hoping to persuade his family to move the two-hour drive north from the Midlands." Indeed, had the club and his entourage come to an agreement over the England midfielder's future, his signing would have cost the Reds around £9,000 at the time. "They made their proposal and waited patiently for a response. However, when it came there was disappointment. His parents had opted not to uproot the family and he stayed in Birmingham," the media outlet adds.

When Bellingham was a teenager he had trials with Liverpool

In August 2019, aged 16 years and 38 days, Jude Bellingham became the youngest player in Birmingham City's history to play for the first team. It was a period at his club where the now Borusser midfielder was also tempted to leave the Midlands, but not for the Bundesliga. And something similar to the Liverpool rejection happened to Manchester United. Before heading to Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2020 (for 25 million euros plus another 5 million euros in variables), "Manchester United was the English club that came closest to signing him", reports The Athletic.