Sources: Liverpool confident of signing Jude Bellingham after new talks
Liverpool are confident of signing Borussia Dortmund star Jude Bellingham and could even have an agreement in place within weeks, sources have told Football Insider.
The German club will not sell the 19-year-old sensation this summer - we first revealed that on 21 April - amid strong interest from clubs led by Liverpool.
But Liverpool are working on having an agreement in place and that could see Bellingham join as early as January of next year.
A summer-of-2023 deal is more likely but the Merseysiders are working hard behind the scenes on convincing Bellingham to sign.
They are increasingly confident of doing so, amid new talks this week.
Liverpool have previous experience of putting in place a formal agreement of a box-office signing a year early, which they did when luring Naby Keita from RB Leipzig.
They announced the signing of Keita in August 2017, even though he did not officially join until 1 July of the following year.
The Champions League finalists want something similar in place for Bellingham, who has been identified by the recruitment team as the central midfield capture capable of spearheading the team to the next level.
As revealed by Football Insider (30 March), Dortmund are attempting to convince Bellingham to stay by increasing his salary and also signing his younger brother, the Birmingham winger Jobe Bellingham.
Birmingham have agreed professional terms with Jobe Bellingham, and he will sign the deal when he turns 17 on 23 September.
But the family's plan is for him to join Dortmund when he has secured more first-team experience in English football.
His more famous elder brother has a contract at the German club that runs until the summer of 2025 and is already one of the star players in their team.
Bellingham had an outstanding 2021-22 campaign, scoring six goals and providing 14 assists from 44 appearances in all competitions.