Liverpool hero John Aldridge says club owners FSG must make the money available to sign Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jude Bellingham.

Aldridge wrote for the Liverpool Echo: "We have to take the recent news about Jude Bellingham being 'increasingly unlikely' to join Liverpool with a pinch of salt until we know for sure what is going on.

"If the lad wants to come to Anfield, that is the first priority. He has openly admitted Steven Gerrard is his hero and the club have to find a way to go and get him. Manchester City and Chelsea can afford to buy him and we have to be able to do the same. If he doesn't want to come because of the situation we're in with the Champions League, there's nothing we can do about it.

"But if he were to come out and say Liverpool is his preference and then we don't sign him, the fans won't stand for that and there will be huge pressure on FSG. He is the number one target in most people's eyes and we need reinforcements in that area.

"The club is valued at between £3bn and £4bn and FSG only bought us for £300m. They have done great business up until now, but the pressure is on them to deliver in the market. If they don't, it could turn sour with the fans and I wouldn't like to see that. We've seen that before with Hicks and Gillett and we don't want to go down that road. The owners have to dip into money they have and getting someone in as a partner to finance their spending isn't the answer for me, we may as well sell the club as a whole if you do that.

"We don't want to be turned into a soap opera like we were before they purchased us. In my opinion, we will have to spend at least £250million in the summer and it's something we should be able to afford when you see Chelsea spending £600million in under than a year. You need to speculate to accumulate."