Trent Alexander-Arnold reveals night out with Liverpool target Jude Bellingham
Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold has revealed spending a night out at a concert with England teammate Jude Bellingham, a player many Reds hope will soon join the club.
Even at the age of just 19, Bellingham has emerged as one of the leading central midfielders in world football and could be on the move from current club Borussia Dortmund as early as this summer.
Liverpool are among the three sides leading the chase for the former Birmingham prodigy, alongside Real Madrid and Manchester City. In the background, Manchester United, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle are also keeping watch from a little further away.
Dortmund are hoping to see Bellingham sign a new contract that will make him their highest paid player and keep him at the club for at least another year until 2024. Such a deal would be expected to include a release clause to likely facilitate a transfer, similar to Erling Haaland.
Bellingham is already close to a handful of Liverpool players, hitting it off with Reds skipper Jordan Henderson, who has already urged the club to strike a deal, and also Alexander-Arnold.
In an interview with Liverpool’s matchday programme, the right-back has spoken about a time when he went to a Chris Brown concert with Bellingham, who had already flown over from Germany to prepare to report for duty with England.
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It wasn’t the first time that Alexander-Arnold had been to see the controversial American artist, previously attending with an initially reluctant Andy Robertson.
“I enjoyed the first concert so much that I decided to go again,” Trent said.
“[Bellingham] was in town because he was meeting up with the national team, so we decided to go and everyone there enjoyed it.”
Will Liverpool sign Jude Bellingham?
In desperate need of a rebuild, particularly in midfield, Liverpool have already put forward their proposal to Bellingham’s representatives with Dortmund’s permission. 90min has extensively reported that all three main suitors – Liverpool, Real Madrid and Manchester City – are confident that they have each made a compelling case for the player to choose them.
Whether Liverpool have the financial resources to compete with the other two is up for debate. Dortmund are prepared to listen to offers for Bellingham this summer if the player informs them he is ready to move on now – he has been considering his options for a while, but no decision is made.
However, if that is the case, Dortmund will stand firm over their valuation and will demand a new club record sale in excess of the €144m deal agreed with Barcelona for Ousmane Dembele in 2017. That would make Bellingham the third most expensive player in history.
Liverpool’s best chance could come in 2024. If Bellingham hasn’t been snapped up by one of the other interested clubs for €150m and has signed a new Dortmund contract, the release clause that would become active next year is expected to be significantly lower.
90min has previously explained that Dortmund will allow Bellingham complete control over the decision on his future, regardless of which club offers most money. The player’s camp have also made it clear that his mind won’t be made up by whichever clubs pays the biggest wages. Instead, the biggest motivating factor will be the sporting project on the table.
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