Journalist Florian Plettenberg has insisted live on Sky Sports that Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp are pushing hard for Jude Bellingham.

The Lowdown: Midfielder a major priority

Liverpool moved very early in the transfer window to land Cody Gakpo as Klopp looked to bolster his attacking options after a frustrating first half of the season, but is still yet to improve his midfield.

It has been widely noted that Liverpool need to improve their midfield, with players such as Thiago, Jordan Henderson and Fabinho all starting to push on into their later years.

However, it seems as though Liverpool may well be sitting tight until the summer, at which point they will go heavily for star midfielder Bellingham, with the Reds said to be leading the race for his signature.

The Latest: Bellingham is Liverpool's top target

Sky Sports' Plettenberg, who covers the Bundesliga, has admitted that Klopp is pushing hard to land Bellingham - although any deal would be for the summer and cost a lot of money.

He said: "This is our information, BVB [have no chance] at this stage to keep him, but he has a contract without a release clause, so the price tag is very, very high and we hear that, Dortmund, they want to get between €100-150m for Jude Bellingham in the summer.

"We hear there are three targets for him who have been very possible - Real Madrid, Manchester City and Liverpool. But we hear that Liverpool is one of the favourites; Klopp is pushing, pushing, pushing for him.

"He says he is my transfer target No 1 despite the situation with the owners of Liverpool, and we also hear that Klopp hasn't spoken to Bellingham personally yet, but the conversations have leaked - other guys like Julian Ward for example - but Liverpool and Bellingham is hot, but they have to be clear right now who is paying the money."

[web_stories_embed url="https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/liverpool-transfer-news-and-rumours/" title="Liverpool Transfer News and Rumours" poster="https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/cropped-2021-03-07T155652Z_1459311687_UP1EH3718ASBK_RTRMADP_3_SOCCER-ENGLAND-LIV-FUL-REPORT.jpg" width="360" height="600" align="none"]

The Verdict: Liverpool have to go all out for Bellingham

The Reds have certainly not been coy over spending money in recent times, having splashed out on the likes of Darwin Nunez and Gakpo, and for what would be the third window in a row, FSG could hand Klopp yet another big-money signing come the summer.

If Bellingham was to join Liverpool, it would be a major coup and likely help them get back to at least challenging for the top four and potentially set their midfield up for many years to come given he's still only 19 and starting week-in, week-out for Borussia Dortmund.

However, Liverpool's unclear situation surrounding FSG's intentions to sell the club could well make this a difficult deal to complete, as they may not wish to spend so much money on one player only to then hand the club over in a few months' time.