Jude Bellingham: Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp likens pursuit of England tyro to child wanting ‘a Ferrari at Christmas’

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has likened his club’s pursuit of England midfielder Jude Bellingham to a child wanting “a Ferrari at Christmas”.

And Klopp – speaking ahead of his side’s trip to Leeds on Monday in the Premier League – was pressed to revisit the topic, but rounded on its “theoretical” basis and appeared to accept other targets will need to be looked at instead.

“There’s nothing to say about it [the possible transfer of Bellingham] to be honest,” Klopp began.

“If we don’t speak about players we sign or not sign, why would we now speak about this kind of speculation?

“It has always been like this [working under transfer constraints]. It’s never changed.

“My answer now is not about Jude Bellingham. I never understood why we constantly talk about things we theoretically cannot have, we cannot have six players in the summer for £100m [each], for example.

“You have to realise what you can do, and then you have to work with that. We are not children. If I ask a five-year-old ‘what do you want for Christmas?’ and they tell you they want to have a Ferrari. You wouldn’t say ‘that’s a good idea’, you’d say it’s too expensive.

“It’s just what can you do, and then you do it, and then you work with that. That’s always how I’ve worked.

“Whatever I want, whatever we need, we try absolutely everything to get it but there are moments when you have to accept that this or that is not possible for us, and just step aside and do different stuff.”

“Everyone can see he is just exceptional,” the Reds manager said.

“If you mention to someone who has no clue about football, or who knows about football and has not watched it for a while, ‘how old do you think Jude Bellingham is?’ I don’t think anyone would get even close to his age.

“They would say 28 or 29 because he plays so mature.

“He played an exceptional World Cup. Absolutely exceptional.”