Liverpool’s long-running pursuit of Jude Bellingham felt inevitable at one stage. Jürgen Klopp was an admirer, supporters dreamed of seeing the England midfielder at Anfield and the Borussia Dortmund star appeared tailor-made for a midfield desperately in need of regeneration.

Yet new details suggest it was Julian Ward who ultimately decided Liverpool had to walk away.

According to The Athletic’s James Pearce, Ward effectively “pulled the plug” during the 2022/23 season. 

There were two major concerns, he was not convinced Bellingham truly wanted Liverpool ahead of Real Madrid, and he believed the club’s transfer budget needed to be spread across an entire midfield rebuild rather than concentrated on one superstar. 

In purely footballing terms, it is easy to imagine Bellingham thriving at Anfield. His ability to carry possession through midfield, press aggressively, arrive late in the penalty area and influence games at both ends would have made him a natural Klopp midfielder. 

He could have operated as an attacking No.8 in Liverpool’s 4-3-3 while offering something the ageing midfield of 2022/23 increasingly lacked, legs, physicality and goals.

But Ward’s alternative was not simply Bellingham or nobody. Liverpool eventually rebuilt the department with Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Ryan Gravenberch and Wataru Endo for a reported combined £149.5million. 

Still, Bellingham’s subsequent career makes the Liverpool ‘what if?’ impossible to ignore. 

He joined Real Madrid in 2023 and produced an extraordinary debut campaign, scoring 23 times in 42 appearances as Madrid won La Liga, the Champions League and Spanish Super Cup.  By his 23rd birthday in June 2026, Bellingham had reached 140 Madrid appearances and 46 goals, collecting five trophies with the Spanish giants. 

And he has started 2026/27 strongly too. Real Madrid’s official statistics currently list three goals and two assists in eight appearances across all competitions. 

Perhaps most importantly when assessing Ward’s decision, Bellingham later revealed just how persuasive Madrid had been.

After completing his move, he said he was effectively sold on the Spanish giants from their first meeting, with Madrid’s 2022 Champions League final victory over Liverpool among the factors that attracted him. 

Liverpool therefore missed out on a generational midfielder, but Ward’s thinking was bigger than one player.

Bellingham at Anfield remains one of modern Liverpool’s great transfer sliding-door moments. The intriguing question is whether Ward prevented an expensive chase Liverpool were unlikely to win, while simultaneously giving them the resources to rebuild a midfield that needed far more than one new face.

Do you think it was the right decision Liverpool not signing Jude Bellingham? Leave your thoughts and comments below.