The talk of the footballing world is Jude Bellingham. The 19-year-old England midfielder has taken the World Cup by storm and heading into their quarter-final, there is a serious argument to say that Bellingham has been their best player.
Running parallel to that has been a growing clamour for various clubs in the footballing elite to sign him next summer when he will likely leave Dortmund. Paris Saint-Germain CEO Nasser Al-Khelaifi even publicly admitted that ‘everyone wants to sign him’.
However it appears that two clubs in particular are leading the race to do so, Liverpool and Real Madrid.
However BILD Editor Christian Falk has recently reported that the English side are leading the race for Bellingham. Speaking to Empire of the Kop exclusively, he used Manchester United’s Jadon Sancho as a comparative example to highlight the thinking in the Bellingham camp.
“There were many talks with his father, Mark; his mother, Denise; also his agent, Mark Bennett was in.”
“There were many points. One is, of course, there was always a plan to get back to the Premier League. I think to go to Germany, it’s a step many young English players did.”
“[Jadon] Sancho did it at Dortmund, Bellingham saw that and it was a good move but, at the end, now, they have to see which is the best club where he can perform.”
Of course, Real Madrid may well use Sancho as a tale of caution for Bellingham, as they look to put forward their arguments as to why he should join them.
Sancho has struggled to impose himself at United and 18 months on from his move, is no longer even in the England squad.
If Los Blancos do hope to persuade Bellingham, they will need to rely on their prestige and their record of developing young stars of late. Fede Valverde and Vinicius Junior have recently made the jump to be considered world class by many, while Rodrygo Goes, Eduardo Camavinga and Aurelien Tchouameni are all well on their way to doing the same. Bellingham could lead an exciting new generation at the Santiago Bernabeu, which is set up for success for years to come.
