Liverpool ‘priority’ signing revealed in six-man ‘shortlist’ after Klopp abandons Bellingham pursuit

Liverpool have made Chelsea midfielder Mason Mount their top summer target after Jurgen Klopp decided to end their pursuit of Jude Bellingham, according to reports.

The Reds have been following Bellingham’s progress at Borussia Dormund closely with the Premier League side reportedly making him their top target for this summer.

However, with the increasing cost involved in the transfer and Liverpool probably being unable to offer him Champions League football next season, Klopp and the Reds recruitment team have decided to pursue other targets.

A report in The Times yesterday insisted that Liverpool view a ‘summer rebuild’ as more important than spending a huge sum of money on one player with Bellingham valued in excess of £100m.

The Times added that the ‘merits of spending far in excess of £100million on a single player have been widely debated’ but that using ‘a huge chunk of this summer’s funds to one player is no longer regarded by the club as the best strategy.’

And now they have turned their attention to other targets with Football.London claiming Liverpool ‘have made Mason Mount their priority this summer’.

The Liverpool midfield has taken a lot of the blame for their struggles this season with Klopp’s side currently eighth in the Premier League table, 12 points adrift of fourth-placed Manchester United and 29 points behind leaders Arsenal.

Many fans and pundits believe the Reds need at least a couple of new midfielders in the summer with players like Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain out of contract.

And now Football.London adds that Liverpool have ‘stepped up their interest in Mount even further and he is now the club’s priority to begin their revamp of their struggling midfield’.

There is little sign that Mount will renew his contract at Chelsea with the England international having just over a year left on his deal.

Liverpool are hoping that they can sign Mount at a “reduced price” this summer with Todd Boehly determined to sell players towards the end of their contracts, rather than lose them for free.

Speaking about Mount’s contract situation in his first press conference as caretaker boss, Lampard said: “I don’t know enough about it to talk about it and I think it would be wrong for me to delve into anything other than the fact that Mason has always been a fantastic player for me. From my days at Derby and the impact he had there to coming back to Chelsea.

“It was an absolute pleasure to watch him – among others that I coached in that period like Reece James, Tammy Abraham, Tomori and others if I missed them – to have gone on to become huge players here or elsewhere, so that’s great. ‘Mason, I know, has had a few slight injury problems maybe so that’s important for me to speak to him and find out where he’s at, but I know what I get from Mason.

“In those terms, I just want to see him perform on the pitch and of course, we have a good relationship so we’ll talk a lot. “I think that he’s a huge player for Chelsea and has been in his time here so I look forward to talking to him more.”

And Florian Plettenberg claims that West Ham’s Declan Rice, Brighton’s Moises Caicedo, Inter Milan’s Nicolo Barella, Bayern Munich’s Ryan Gravenberch and Wolves’ Matheus Nunes make up the other five players on the Liverpool ‘shortlist’ and ‘being discussed with Klopp’.

The Sky Germany reporter also revealed that Klopp was ‘100 per cent involved in the decision not to buy Bellingham’ and that the ‘decision was taken with the owners’.

READ MORE: How Klopp’s ‘genius’ Alexander-Arnold switch can put Liverpool back on top again…