In a utopian world for Liverpool fans, Jude Bellingham would now be a Reds player, and one of his current teammates would also be with him at Anfield.
The Merseysiders had been chasing the England star for months until finally abandoning their pursuit in April, leaving Real Madrid with a clear path to win the race for his highly coveted signature.
The 20-year-old joined a midfield which also contains Aurelien Tchouameni, who LFC had unsuccessfully tried to sign in 2022 and were again linked with a move last month by David Ornstein.
The France international was on target for his country on Thursday night as they defeated Republic of Ireland 2-0 in a Euro 2024 qualifier in Paris, opening the scoring with a sublime finish from just outside the penalty area.
Real Madrid’s official social media channels duly highlighted the 23-year-old’s goal, with Bellingham sharing the club’s post along with the four-word caption ‘What a player man’, accompanied by fire and rocket emojis.
What a player man🔥🚀 https://t.co/JJKFZj94Hi
— Jude Bellingham (@BellinghamJude) September 7, 2023
READ MORE: (Video) Post-match exchange between Reds trio will warm the hearts of every Liverpool fan
Even though Liverpool recruited impressively in midfield over the summer by bringing in Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Wataru Endo and Ryan Gravenberch, Tchouameni’s wonder goal for France nonetheless offered a glimpse of what might’ve been at Anfield.
It wasn’t just that stunning strike with which the 23-year-old caught the eye, either. As per Sofascore, he completed a team-high 102 of his 106 passes (96%), made four tackles, won four duels and executed two key passes in an all-round magnificent performance.
Meanwhile, his clubmate Bellingham has enjoyed a tremendous start to life with Real Madrid, scoring in each of his first four games as he’s racked up five goals and an assist already (Transfermarkt).
The finances which would’ve been involved in Liverpool bringing in both him and Tchouameni would’ve been staggering, but such is the way of the modern transfer market.
The thought of those two lining up in the same midfield at Anfield is a blissful one, but instead it’s fans of Los Blancos who get to have that pleasure every week.
Still, judging by how the likes of Mac Allister and Szoboszlai have begun their respective Reds careers, we won’t be complaining about the business LFC ultimately pulled off!
#Ep89 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Neil Jones🎙️
Liverpool screwed up big time by not signing these two….just like tgey WILL screw up sihnong Mbappe. I repeat, Liverpool MAY win the league sometime in the future WITH Klopp as manager, but WILL NEVER DOMINATE ENGLISH FOOTBALL WITH FSG IN CHARGE, NEVER❗These dudes don’t understand that you have to SPEND MONEY to build a DOMINATING CHAMPIONSHIP SOCCER TEAM in Europe just like Real Madrid, Man City, Bayern Munich etc do. In Klopp LFC has one of the best managers in THE WORLD, in FSG they have one of the most lousy dumb owners in the soccer world, what a combination!!!