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The Athletic's Liverpool correspondent James Pearce said on BBC Radio 5 Live that the sums didn't add up when Liverpool considered a potential summer move for Borussia Dortmund's England midfielder Jude Bellingham.

"This will surprise a lot of people," he said. "He has been widely regarded as their top target in terms of looking ahead to what is going to be a hefty summer for the club in terms of rebuilding.

"From the people I have spoken to, they have said that after lengthy discussions the deal just stopped making sense - that is how it was described to me.

"They felt they just couldn't put all their eggs in one basket with no guarantees, at this stage, that he will even leave Dortmund and, if he does, no guarantees that he will pick Liverpool as his destination.

"So Liverpool are adamant they have moved on."

The sought after midfielder has ruled out a move to either Manchester City, Chelsea and Paris St-Germain because he wants to play for a club with values like "passion, honour, and reputation", rather than money.


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It's only the clubs with money that can afford him, so it's going to be a fun summer