"It's sad..." - Mark Goldbridge makes valid point about Jude Bellingham and Liverpool

Social media influencer Mark Goldbridge has claimed it is 'sad' that Liverpool are not signing Jude Bellingham amid interest from Manchester United.

The Times' Paul Joyce has reported that the Reds have 'cooled' their interest in bringing in the midfielder from Borussia Dortmund this summer, despite him being a long-term target.

They are now drawing up of a shortlist of alternative targets, with Chelsea's Mason Mount and Brighton's Alexis Mac Allister both heavily linked with moves to Anfield.

On Thursday, Mac Allister's father, Carlos, claimed to Puro Boca that his son, a World Cup winner with Argentina last year, is 'very likely' to leave the Seagulls in the summer transfer window.

But moves for those players could give United a boost in their chances of signing Bellingham. The Manchester Evening News has claimed that manager Erik ten Hag would sign the midfielder if he had the choice of any player in world football.

But Goldbridge has claimed that the latest developments are 'sad' for Liverpool.

Goldbridge makes 'sad' Bellingham point

Speaking on That's Football, Goldbridge stated: "Logically, the Bellingham thing doesn't make sense anymore. It doesn't make sense.

"It's all your summer budget on one player when you're not in the Champions League - and [one] that's not going to make a massive amount of difference.

"The club are accepting the crisis and saying, 'We need to buy three players, not one.' It's sad.

"You've got to look at why that happened. You know, Liverpool were that close to being able to buy Bellingham if they'd have got Champions League football and shown that they were still a good team."

As it stands, Liverpool will almost certainly have to settle for Europa League football next season at best, with Jurgen Klopp's side are 12 points behind fourth-placed United with nine games remaining, meaning qualification via domestic competition is not yet impossible.

But it needs the Reds to win every match and hope that teams around them struggle to pick up points - and a failure to reach the competition looks likely to end any pursuit of Bellingham entirely.