Plenty of Liverpool fans had pinned their hopes on Jude Bellingham becoming their midfield general for years to come after a season of woes at the Merseyside outfit.
On Tuesday, Sportsmail revealed that Bellingham is now not a viable option and that the club won’t be pursuing a summer deal to bring the England star to Anfield.
Reds boss Jurgen Klopp stressed that summer transfers would focus on recruiting a collection of new talents rather than splashing out over £100million that Borussia Dortmund are expected to command for their midfield star.
It was only last year that sections of Liverpool supporters were dreaming of becoming the first-ever English club to secure a historic quadruple. They ended the season with the FA Cup, Carabao Cup, a Champions League final loss to Real Madrid and finished one point off Man City in the Premier League title race.
This season there is no prospect of silverware and Liverpool face a huge summer re-build. So who should Klopp and Co look to capture to fill the boots of the generational talent that now looks destined for Real Madrid? Sportsmail previews Liverpool’s eight alternatives to Bellingham.
Jude Bellingham was heavily linked with Liverpool but is now not being pursued by the club
Jurgen Klopp will instead focus Liverpool’s transfer policy on bringing in multiple players
Moises Caicedo
The Brighton midfielder has only been at the club for little over a year having moved to the south coast in January 2022 but has been on the radar of the Premier League big-boys for quite some time.
Arsenal attempted to bring the Ecuadorian to the Emirates in the winter transfer window and even submitted a £70m bid to land the midfield merchant but saw that offer rejected by Brighton.
Caicedo refused to train as negotiations took place but then decided to put pen-to-paper on a new deal at the AMEX. His new contract isn’t expected to be a problem for vying clubs but does give Brighton more control to demand a higher fee.
The 21-year-old thrives in turning defensive situations into attacking outlets, managing 5.6 successful passes into the final third and winning just under three offensive duels every match.
In defence he successfully completes nearly 10 ball recoveries per 90 minutes but there will be concern that the box-to-box midfielder wins just 25% of his defensive duels and averages only 3.46 interceptions every game.
Caicedo is an attractive alternative for Liverpool to explore in the absence of Bellingham, but the…