Featured Image Credit: Getty/ Lions' Den
Topics: Liverpool, Jude Bellingham, Real Madrid, Premier League, England, Champions League, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jordan Henderson, Conor Coady, Euro 2024
Ben McCrum
Topics: Liverpool, Jude Bellingham, Real Madrid, Premier League, England, Champions League, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jordan Henderson, Conor Coady, Euro 2024
England defender Conor Coady has detailed the lengths that two Liverpool players went to as they tried to convince Jude Bellingham to join the club.
Jude Bellingham is undoubtedly one of the best footballing talents in the world right now.
Dominating both in La Liga for Real Madrid and internationally for England at Euro 2024, the 20-year-old is deemed to be the most valuable player globally by transfermarkt.
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Therefore, once it became clear that Bellingham would depart long-term club Borussia Dortmund at the conclusion of the 2022/23 season, several clubs were desperate to secure his signature.
And England defender Conor Coady has revealed that, alongside former Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson, Trent Alexander-Arnold desperately tried to convince Bellingham to come to Anfield.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5’ Football Daily podcast, Coady said: “I think Hendo and Trent tried with Jude, at the World Cup yeah 100%.
“They man marked the life out of him. I think them two tried it, and to be fair, you would, wouldn’t you?
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“Let’s be honest if you are at a club like that, of course you would!
“And you know he’s going to leave in the summer which was quite common knowledge and there was all these clubs in for him. So, 100% you would, without a shadow of a doubt”
Podcast host Mark Chapman then joked that he could imagine Henderson and Alexander-Arnold sitting with Bellingham at every England team meal to convince him to join them at Liverpool.
“Oh it was! And they were either side of him and they’d all be talking about how good Liverpool is, Klopp is and all this sort of stuff,” Coady joked.
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Of course, the young midfielder ultimately opted to join Spanish champions Real Madrid instead, signing a contract until the summer of 2029.
Since joining the club in the summer of 2023, Bellingham has won La Liga, the Champions League and the Spanish Super Cup.
In 42 appearances for Madrid, he has scored 23 goals and registered 13 assists.
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And, should he go all the way and lift the Euro 2024 trophy with England this summer, he will no doubt be the favourite to claim the coveted Ballon d’Or award later this year.
Meanwhile, in the 2023/24 season Liverpool won the Carabao Cup, having challenged for the Premier League title right until the final months.
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