Pundit suggests Man City fringe player could be the answer to Liverpool’s problems with Bellingham not ‘necessary’
Tony Cascarino is not disappointed that Liverpool have ended their pursuit of Jude Bellingham and has urged the Reds to raid one of their Premier League rivals for a ‘ball-winning’ midfielder.The Borussia Dortmund star had been linked with a move to Anfield for over a year but it’s now believed that Jurgen Klopp can’t justify […]
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Tony Cascarino is not disappointed that Liverpool have ended their pursuit of Jude Bellingham and has urged the Reds to raid one of their Premier League rivals for a ‘ball-winning’ midfielder.
The Borussia Dortmund star had been linked with a move to Anfield for over a year but it’s now believed that Jurgen Klopp can’t justify spending over £100m on a single player when his squad is need of such a major overhaul this summer.
Despite labelling the England international as ‘a fantastic player’, the Reds have ‘more important’ business to complete ahead of next season according to the 60-year-old.
“Am I disappointed? No. Not at all,” Cascarino told talkSPORT.
“Klopp has been there before. He went after a Bugatti, not a Ferrari, in Mbappe. He had meetings with him in Paris, but that was a transfer they were never going to get over the line.
“I love Jude Bellingham, I think he’s a fantastic player, but I don’t think he’s necessary for Liverpool at the moment.
“I think they need way more of an engine room that was similar to what they had a couple of years ago, and that is winning the ball back. They need a ball-winning engine room in there. Two midfielders who can get the ball back quickly, because I think that would make a massive change to Liverpool.
“Jude is a fabulous talent and every club in Europe would want him, and Liverpool aren’t in that ballpark.
“But I don’t think he’s necessary for Liverpool. I think there are more important types of players who need to come in before that luxury.
“They’ve got Thiago who is a fabulous footballer, but he’s not a good defender, he doesn’t do the things that are necessary to enable Liverpool to get the ball back quickly, and I think that’s paramount for Liverpool.”
One of the main concerns this season is the drop off in quality of Fabinho this season.
The former Monaco man had become recognised as one of the best holding midfielders in the world since moving to Anfield in 2018 but he’s been a shadow of his former self this term.
Cascarino has explained what sort of business Liverpool should complete this summer with him believing that Jurgen Klopp must ‘rebuild the backbone’ of his team to help them return to their best.
“The most important thing is to sign two players who can play, but their main job is to win the ball back – a bit like the Jordan Henderson type,” he said.
“I like Kalvin Phillips. He’s not been used at Man City.
“OK, Rodri’s performances have been extraordinary, but I think Phillips is a fabulous ball-winner – we saw him enough at Leeds to know that.
“I think they’ve got to go back to their first port of call – make your team as hard to beat as they were before. They were brilliant in midfield with Henderson, Fabinho and Gini Wijnaldum. It’s about rebuilding the backbone of the team, for me.”
Kalvin Phillips is a decent player in his own right but we highly doubt Pep Guardiola would sell any of his players to us.
After moving on from Bellingham we have now reportedly made Brighton’s Alexis Mac Allister our top target with four other midfielders added to our shortlist ahead of the opening of the summer window.
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