Liverpool urged to sign ‘fabulous’ Man City midfielder as alternative to ‘luxury’ Jude Bellingham

Liverpool have been told that they would be better off signing Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips over Dortmund teenager Jude Bellingham.

The Reds are in the market for a couple of midfielders heading into this summer’s transfer window.

They have consistently been linked with Bellingham over the past year but they have now admitted that they will be unable to sign him this summer.

Amid competition from Manchester City and Real Madrid,

Instead of using all of their budget to sign Bellingham, Liverpool are planning to use that money to sign several midfielders.

Former Aston Villa and Chelsea striker Tony Cascarino has now agued that Bellingham is not “necessary for Liverpool”.

“I love Jude Bellingham, I think he’s a fantastic player, but I don’t think he’s necessary for Liverpool at the moment,” Cascarino said on talkSPORT.

“I think they need way more of an engine room that was similar to what they had a couple of years ago, and that is winning the ball back. They need a ball-winning engine room in there. Two midfielders who can get the ball back quickly, because I think that would make a massive change to .

“Jude is a fabulous talent and every club in Europe would want him, and Liverpool aren’t in that ballpark. But I don’t think he’s necessary for Liverpool. I think there are more important types of players who need to come in before that luxury.

“They’ve got Thiago who is a fabulous footballer, but he’s not a good defender, he doesn’t do the things that are necessary to enable Liverpool to get the ball back quickly, and I think that’s paramount for Liverpool.”

Cascarino went on to argue that Phillips should be pursued by Liverpool as he is a “fabulous ball-winner”.

“The most important thing is to sign two players who can play, but their main job is to win the ball back – a bit like the Jordan Henderson type,” Cascarino added.

“I like Kalvin Phillips. He’s not been used at Man City. OK, Rodri’s performances have been extraordinary, but I think Phillips is a fabulous ball-winner – we saw him enough at Leeds to know that.