Jude Bellingham is a wanted man. Manchester United made a failed attempt to get the former ex-Birmingham City when Ole Gunnar Solskajer was at the helm. The versatile midfielder has been the talk of the town amongst big clubs like Man Utd, Liverpool, and Real Madrid — to name a few.
The reason he is most touted by other clubs is because, he can play in different positions in midfield, may it be as a defensive, attacking, right or left midfield position. He owns that position.
We have taken his 2021/22 season heatmap. We can see that he has been dominating in the left midfield. We can see that, where its bright yellow spot is where he had made most actions like passes, defensive contributions, and touches. However, he has been deployed on the right side of midfield too.
We will see how big clubs can utilize him when his contract expires — i.e in June 2025.
Manchester United
Man Utd had a transfer window to forget. With them missing from the Champions League and seeing unrest in team spirit. The arrival of Erik Ten Hag didn’t solve the issue as they missed on Erling Haland, who went to their cross-town rivals without even considering United.
Aurelien Tchouameni was recommended and he was on Erik Ten Hag’s wishlist. But he went to Real Madrid in high profile transfer.
Darwin Nunez was courted by United but they backed off after Liverpool intervene and the prospect of playing in the Champions League turned his head.
Frenkie De Jong was one sought out man by ETH. ETH spent the whole summer trying to prise him away from Nou Camp. He missed out on very important targets to strengthen their other positions like striker, right-back, bringing another defender to partner Lisandro Martinez. It was in vain as he refused to play.
Cody Gakpo was touted in the month-end of the transfer. It was either Antony or him. He was costing around 35–50 million. United went with Antony for 100 million.
Cristiano Ronaldo
The prodigal son who made his mark on United with 1 UCL, and 3 Premier Leagues. He came to United after conquering Spain and Italy, in hopes of reviving United to former glory. But how he was mistaken. His 24 goals in total,18 in Premier League was not enough to save United as they faced the drop to Europa League. In the summer, his agent Jorge Mendes made some noise by linking him to top clubs which play in the Champions League only to be turned down by them. So he stayed at United and he has yet to register a goal. Though he scored 1 in Europa League against Sheriff, he needs to score in the Premier League.
Now coming to Jude Bellingham, OGS was a huge fan of him. He tried to prise him away when he was in Birmingham. But he chose Borussia Dortmund to help him build up for 25 million.
United should thank their lucky stars as the Englishman was not in the market. Or else big clubs would have snapped him up already.
United can go after him in 2023 if United makes it top 4. ETH would have a chance to negotiate his price. As BVB would ask a hefty fee for him. But it would show that the ETH revolution is well and truly underway.
If Jude makes his transfer to United expect United to line up this formation in the 2023/24 season:
It looks like a strong line-up, but expect ETH to go for other positions and especially in the striker position. Expect the line-up to be changed.
Liverpool
Liverpool’s case is different. They are well stocked in all the departments. They lost Sadio Mane, they replaced him with Darwin Nunez. But how the mighty have fallen. Their 4–0 loss to their arch rivals Manchester United in pre-season, and 2–1 loss to them once the season started. Then 4–1 loss to Napoli.
One thing which came to the fore was their shaky midfield, which contains Fabinho, Jordan Henderson, James Milner, Naby Keita, Fabio Carvalho, Thiago Alcantara, and recently promoted Harvey Elliot.
But Milner and Henderson are on the wrong side of 30. Even though these 2 put their heart and soul into the team, Liverpool feels that these 2 are putting the team down.
Like in every good functional team, they replace players at their fag-end with young blood, for example, Manchester City, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and other big clubs.
It’s time for Liverpool’s clear out players and replaces them with young ones. Jude Bellingham is the name that is being spoken around. His versatility could help the team, as he could be deployed as defensive and attacking midfield. He would surely add a dimension to their midfield.
Real Madrid
Real Madrid is a shrewd club. Their transfer strategy is the best. They replace players with young players or players who are born winners like David Alaba and Antonio Rudiger. They are surely not young but they add experience to the team.
In their midfield, Florentino Perez got Eduardo Camavinga and Aurélien Tchouaméni and he sold Casemiro, and Raphael Varane for a good sum to Manchester United and there are plans to sell Toni Kroos or Luka Modric. Toni Kroos can be the one to leave as he wants to run down his contract. Man City has been credited for bringing him to Etihad. Pep Guardiola is an immense fan of the Germany World Cup winner. He will try to bring him for free. He will help City in pursuit of their first UEFA Champions League.
Real Madrid is looking to sweep in and capture Jude Bellingham in the 2023 summer. However, there are rumors that Jude may prefer the Merseyside for the glittering Santiago Bernabeu. Perez has known for spending big to get his man(Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Aurélien Tchouaméni) are the big-name signings he made to make his ever-dominating Galacticos. Expect Perez to give Liverpool a stiff fight for the signature of the Englishman. How Real can line up with Jude.
Expect Luka Modric to be dropped off as he will be 38 years old. Jude will fit into that role at ease.
Final Verdict
Jude is one of the hottest prospects in the Bundesliga. Come next summer there will be a bunch of suitors following him. Expect a bidding war for him. He can provide goals as well as assists. Wherever he goes, he will be a star signing. Where do you think he will end up? Leave your comments below.
PS: To get to know a bit about Jude Bellingham, you can follow this link:
https://medium.com/@manavpal8/scout-report-jude-bellingham-the-next-big-thing-54dfdfbe676c
