Liverpool’s pursuit of Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jude Bellingham is not over, according to Bild journalist Christian Falk.

While the cost of signing the England international has led to most news outlets claiming that the Reds have pulled out of the running for the player’s signature, Falk says the Merseysiders still have one trump card up their sleeve. Writing in his Substack column, he said:

“Slaven Stanic, a good friend of Jürgen Klopp’s, is now still working for the management of the Liverpool boss. And now he’s in talks to become the right-hand man of Sebastian Kehl, Dortmund’s sporting director, as sport coordinator.”

“And he knows, of course, about the big interest of Klopp in Bellingham and could be a middleman to bring both sides together. So it’s not off the table. And now there is hope in Liverpool that perhaps they could come back to the negotiating table again.”

Falk does reiterate that, if another team were to pay Dortmund’s €150m (£134m) asking price, then Liverpool would withdraw from the race to sign Bellingham but, up until that happens, Klopp’s side remain in contention.

It is still believed that Manchester City and Real Madrid are the favourites to snap up the teenager, with the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool seen as outsiders, but Falk’s remarks do offer some encouragement to those fans hoping that the midfielder could still end up at Anfield this summer.