Real Madrid are confident that they have beaten Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea to the signing of Jude Bellingham, according to reports.
The 19-year-old had a brilliant World Cup for England and started every match as the Three Lions were eventually knocked out in the quarter-finals to France.
Even before the tournament Bellingham was attracting interest from numerous clubs around Europe and that has only jumped another level since his performances in Qatar.
Recent noises had suggested that Liverpool were leading the race to sign Bellingham with Sport Bild journalist Christian Falk claiming earlier this month that the Reds were ‘very close’ to agreeing a deal for the Borussia Dortmund midfielder.
Chelsea also ‘love’ Bellingham, while Man Utd are keeping their ‘door open’ in case there is a chance he would come to Old Trafford – but Liverpool’s biggest competition is coming fom Real Madrid.
And now The Sun claims that Real Madrid ‘believe they have won the race to sign’ Bellingham in the summer ‘in a £100million-plus deal’.
There have also been rumours of interest from Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain with Bellingham having his pick of clubs but Los Blancos ‘have become increasingly confident that Bellingham will snub a Premier League move and make a big switch to Spain next summer’.
The Sun describes Liverpool as ‘desperate to sign him’ and manager Jurgen Klopp apparently believes that Bellingham ‘will soon become the world’s best midfielder’.
Man City ‘feel they are not out of the race and are expected to up their bid to land Bellingham’ but they ‘have been made aware that wages are not important for Bellingham — only how a move would benefit him football-wise’.
While on international duty at the World Cup, The Sun claim that ‘Trent Alexander-Arnold and Jordan Henderson told the player about the merits of featuring for the Reds’ and Gary Neville thinks that is probably true.
“When I was in the [England] camp 15 years ago, I used to get close to [Wayne] Rooney, close to Rio Ferdinand,” Neville told Sky Sports News earlier this month. “Now you see Phil Foden next to Jude Bellingham, you see Trent Alexander-Arnold going for a walk with him, you see Jordan Henderson cuddling up to him at the end of the game.
“And you think ‘you sneaky little s*ds, I know what you’re trying to do you lot’.
“That’s the reality at this moment in time. [Bellingham] is more likely to go to Liverpool and Manchester City, just because of where they are at, what they are doing.”
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