04 May 2023 13:10:40
Real Madrid have a reputation for paying over the odds for players and yet those young players fail to reach their full potential. Honestly for 132m we can buy great quality midfield players, if we had spent all our money on Bellingham we wouldn't have any money left to buy supporting players to play alongside him. Bellingham would have become fed up having to do all the work. We have too many players leaving that all need replaced.

1.) 04 May 2023
04 May 2023 13:21:03
Alwaysred, RM have rich people problems so they can afford splurges like that for Jude. We have way worse problems than they do. How people though we had the same problems they have and could afford 132m for one player with no history of ever spending that on one player, continues to beggar belief.

2.) 04 May 2023
04 May 2023 13:35:27
Real Madrid didn’t sign Athur Melo on loan to solve years of midfield neglect ?.

3.) 04 May 2023
04 May 2023 13:49:39
I’m not saying we are interested or claim to know the fee that would be involved. I’m simply stating the player I would go for in regards to that attacking midfielder role and that would be Florian Wirtz. He literally turned 20 years old yesterday and is so composed for his age both at club and international level. He has so much potential to improve further and I believe he could, with the key word being could. But he could become world class. Florian Wirtz alongside Mac Allister and Bajcetic or Ugarte would complete our midfield for years to come. Funds permitting of could but all that would left is to sign a class defender (Gvardiol) and we are back to challenging in all competitions.

4.) 04 May 2023
04 May 2023 13:56:50
They’ve replaced Kroos, Modric and Casemiro with Bellingham, Tchouameni and Camavinga. That is amazing squad planning, which is unfortunately well beyond what Liverpool can or are willing to do. Real Madrid don’t have the quality they used to (Ronaldo and Bale to Vinicius and Rodrygo is a HUGE downgrade in quality, and Rudiger will never replace Ramos) but they will win many more Champions Leagues with that midfield should they replace Benzema properly. It’s genuinely irritating how, had we planned better, two of their new midfielders may have been ours.

5.) 04 May 2023
04 May 2023 15:04:32
Awk Real Madrid just have much more cash than us i'm afraid - shame if he does go there though, i'm not sure if Tchouaméni gets much game time atm does he? A midfield of him, Trent and Bellingham would have been amazing for us for years to come

I must admit though I do have a smile everytime I read Perez complaining about PSG or Man City and the unfair way they compete in the transfer market - whilst I do agree that it's not fair, the paradox is not lost on me as it is exactly the same thing that Real Madrid and Barcelona did for years upon years.

6.) 04 May 2023
04 May 2023 15:13:23
LoweLFC. Yep, that’s called proper forward planning. Something we have zero of unfortunately. I’m over Bellingham but the fact we pulled out because we can’t spend that much on one player is no one’s fault but our own. If we forward planned well we wouldn’t be left doing a massive rebuild in one transfer window and most likely would have signed Bellingham as it would simply be a case of quality in one or two positions.

As for Madrid Ronaldo cannot be replaced. Well, he could be replaced by one player. Actually, two players currently playing and the funny thing is in a years time they will probably have both players. I see Madrid selling a number of their players to raise funds and reduce the wage bill to sign Mbappe this summer. Then next summer Haaland’s release clause activates and they will most likely sign him. Now a forward line of Mbappe and Haaland alongside that midfield trio of Bellingham, Tchouameni and Camavinga would see the Galatico days return but this time with purpose and as a team.

7.) 04 May 2023
04 May 2023 15:17:22
Did we ever ever have history of spending 75 mill on a centre half or 66 million on a keeper before we signed Vvd and Alison.

8.) 04 May 2023
04 May 2023 15:23:02
Yeah that Vinicius is crap, never caused us any bother at all ?.

9.) 04 May 2023
04 May 2023 15:31:09
I don't think the overspend matters to a degree. Real Madrid brand themselves at the top of the pyramid and they need to uphold that imagery. Why build a small church, when you can buy a cathedral? It's expensive branding that has worked in the past.

10.) 04 May 2023
04 May 2023 16:12:47
We were linked with all of those players at one point or another! It would be foolish of me to suggest we could have competed against Madrid for any of them. It seems that in addition to the obvious pull of Real Madrid, the way that they have presented a vision and a plan to these players has clearly been very impressive. They are moving away from the Galacticos project, and younger prospects have been very enticed by what they have been promised.

Contrastingly, we are a mess and have been for a few years. I hope we can put that right, but maybe it is one of those things where it had to get worse before it could get better. I hope we never make the mistakes we have made over the past 4 summers again.

I think Bellingham was only ever viable within our old, broken strategy. The club didn't believe it needed to sign anybody else, just him and whoever else the coaching staff took a fancy to, no matter how long they had to wait or how much they had to sacrifice. They were happy to occasionally add players they were impressed by, but didn't think it important to engage with much else in the way of succession planning. They thought it was possible to have the most intense style of play and the longest-serving squad, which of course is ridiculous.

I'm very disappointed because I was so excited to see Bellingham in a Liverpool shirt, and I really do think he will go on to be the best in his position. Unfortunately, it just doesn't seem right. It was the pipe dream of a strategy that ultimately, I think we can all agree, has been a disaster. We need more than Jude Bellingham, and the exhausting circus that now follows him.

What does that look like? I'm not so sure. Mac Allister? Thuram? What about centre back? Where will Trent play? Which senior players will leave? Which academy players will be good enough? I have honestly no idea. There's simply too much uncertainty and too much that needs to change, and the fact that we now recognize that is a good thing.

Jude Bellingham was only ever viable in a fairytale land where we kept all of our most senior players into their 40's, where nobody needed to be replaced, where we only added one player every summer, and where we no longer played pressing football. That is where we were headed, and it doesn't look like we're headed there anymore.

I allowed myself to get my hopes up, and I am gutted, but the alternative we are now pursuing is the only way to get back to the top.

11.) 04 May 2023
04 May 2023 16:44:11
Did Klopp not spend time in Monaco last Season trying to convince Tchouameni to choose Liverpool over Madrid?

12.) 04 May 2023
04 May 2023 16:57:01
Real Madrid aren't run like that anymore to be fair to them, their recruitment of young players over recent years has been phenomenal. Vinicius, Rodrygo, Valverde were all masterstrokes. Even their senior signings like Tchou, Camavinga and Militao have all been sensible signings as well.

13.) 04 May 2023
04 May 2023 17:08:17
I know we may want to pretend that Bellingham will flop at Madrid to make us feel better. But he will tear it up there (barring any injuries), win multiple La Liga's and probably a few Champions leagues too. If he plays his cards right he may become the best british player and go down as a legend for them.

Personally, I think he has chosen Madrid, who could blame him. But he isn't going to a direct Premier League rival and there are plenty of fish in the sea. Onwards and Upwards.

14.) 04 May 2023
04 May 2023 17:44:02
WYred. I agree mate. Just glad he chose Madrid instead of City. Mac Allister, Ugarte, Florian Wirtz and a defender if there were to happen would probably be our best transfer window in recent memory. Now that would truly be onwards and upwards.

15.) 04 May 2023
04 May 2023 17:52:43
Real are owned by Royals, and Franco money. They benefit from all kinds of subtle and not so subtle biases.
What happened to our fans in Paris was a f'kin joke-No RM fans suffered that.
These fine margins have won them tournaments.
Can't stand the bunch of cants.

16.) 04 May 2023
04 May 2023 18:45:01
I've never known so much hand-wringing about one player who we had such little chance of signing in reality. I pray he signs for RM today so that we can all move on stop chatting about him on here!

17.) 04 May 2023
04 May 2023 19:37:46
Johnnyr1970. Jude Bellingham is fantastic young player with a lot of potential but he ain’t signing and like you the sooner the Madrid deal gets done the better. Mac Allister, Ugarte and an attacking midfielder whoever that maybe. Personally Florian Wirtz is my pick but just a good attacking midfielder and we go again. Oh, and don’t forget a defender. Those 4 signings would be a great window.

18.) 04 May 2023
04 May 2023 19:41:53
@johnnyr, why do you think the kid signing for Real Madrid will stop the chatter mate? There are people on here who still talk about us needing to replace Wijnaldum and he’s been gone for about 15 years now. Just you wait until they announce that Bellingham has a five year contract, the countdown to 2028 will begin.

19.) 04 May 2023
04 May 2023 20:26:46
I like to think of the "years of midfield neglect" as "years of midfield mismanagement". We ended up with a midfield consisting of regular visitors to the rehab unit and youngsters coming through (which I love) . Not sure having 9 first team midfielders, is neglectful, but it is mismanagement.

20.) 05 May 2023
05 May 2023 01:11:35
LFC Hopeful -
Vinicius destroying us time after time says more about us being awful and going to pieces against Real Madrid than about the player’s actual quality. He’s a good player but not in the same league as Ronaldo. And forget the Rodrygo-Bale comparison.
Madrid won 4 Champions Leagues with Ronaldo and Bale, and a few league titles. Now, they’re being destroyed in the league by an awful Barcelona team and will likely get knocked out of the CL by City.

21.) 05 May 2023
05 May 2023 03:01:08
We, as LFC fans want to see things through rose tinted glasses. Real Madrid are head and shoulders above LFC, in all departments. It's no luck or by chance that a team wins 5 European cups (amongst a slew of other cups) just in the last 10 years. Apart from Hazard, I don't think there have been major transfer failures at RM either, plus they have recouped good money on players they have moved on.

Being a LFC fan we can all keep chalking the success of clubs like RM, Man C, Bay Mun, Chels (forget this season) to money they have/ had, but the fact is these clubs are not just successful because they had money; they are supremely successful because winning is all they think about and are extremely focused and motivated with winning. Money certainly helps them, but it's about the mentality of the club through and through, something which LFC just hasn't been able to instill and sustain for a long period.

I love Liverpool football club, but there is a difference when a club is able to maintain a certain calibre of football and winning streak for over a decade/ two decades, vs. clubs that do it for 3-4 years.