Jude Bellingham close to signing for Real Madrid

English midfielder Jude Bellingham has been one of the most promising young talents in modern football since his very early debut with Birmingham in the Championship a few years ago. Now cemented as one of the pillars of German giants Borussia Dortmund, with several top-class performances behind him, and with a lot of recognition at just 19 years old, the Englishman seems set for a transfer to Real Madrid in the upcoming summer.

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The Spanish Titans have long been admirers of Jude Bellingham and his playing style, which is why they have shown a lot of interest in getting his signature. Due to the sale of Brazilian midfielder Casemiro to Manchester United, and the ageing of Croatian midfielder Luka Modric and the German Toni Kroos, Madrid are focusing on revamping their midfield and Bellingham is part of the renewal process.

Uruguayan Federico Valverde was one of the first major bets to inject new life in midfield back in the summer of 2018, and the French duo of Eduardo Camavinga and Aurélien Tchouaméni have followed suit in recent summers. These three players have gained more prominence as the season have gone by, thus showing that Madrid have changed their mentality in terms of developing young talent.

Within that context, the signing of Bellingham seems like the final piece of that midfield puzzle. The player has been contacted through his entourage by a lot of Madrid people, even going as far as meeting with one of their biggest former players and coaches, Zinedine Zidane, who was one of Bellingham’s idols as he was growing up.’

Bellingham also had interest from several Premier League teams that were eager with taking him back to his homeland. Manchester United were highly interested in him, and it seemed that Erik Ten Hag wanted to get his signature after the World Cup in Qatar. On the other hand, Manchester City and Liverpool were also quite interested, especially the latter, with their board willing to back manager Jurgen Klopp with a big budget to finance this transfer.

However, Madrid managed to convince the former Birmingham man through his entourage, and now there is the remaining ordeal of reaching an agreement with Borussia Dortmund. A club used to selling their star performers, the Germans already know that Bellingham is leaving the upcoming summer and, according to reports, they want 140 million euros, although Madrid are only willing to offer in the range of 120 million.

🚨⚪️ Real Madrid are close to complete deal to sign Jude Bellingham, confirmed. Negotiations are progressing to the final stages.

Personal terms are almost agreed — Juni Calafat, crucial again.

New meeting has been scheduled to complete the agremeent with Borussia Dortmund. pic.twitter.com/EZO76bXiHk

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) May 3, 2023

Regardless of the final outcome, it seems very likely that Jude Bellingham is going to leave Dortmund and the Bundesliga after three crucial years of development. His time in Germany have established him as one of the most interesting young midfielders in recent times, and there is no denying that his career is going to generate a lot more interest in the coming years.

A lot of his upcoming career is going to be decided by the club that he chooses the following summer.