Jude Bellingham will join Real Madrid this summer, with Man City having offered up no challenge whatsoever.
Borussia Dortmund have today confirmed that an agreement has been reached with Real for the player’s transfer.
The Spanish giants are paying an initial £85 million, which will increase with add-ons.
The confirmation from Dortmund follows the claims from a few weeks ago that Bellingham had decided he wanted to go to the Bernabeu.
He will eventually become one of the most expensive transfers of all time.
It’s been an incredible rise for Bellingham, who is still just 19 years of age.
After wowing at Birmingham City, he joined Dortmund in 2020 and has absolutely flourished in Germany. He has just finished his third and final season with the club, which ended in heartbreak with Bayern Munich pipping Dortmund to the title on the last day.
Bellingham’s performances over the last few seasons have led to pretty much every big club in world football having an interest in him.
For a long time, City were linked with Bellingham.
And it was felt there was a good chance he would move to the Etihad, following his old teammates Manuel Akanji and Erling Haaland.
But The Athletic have shed some light on City’s interest in the player. And it turns out that’s all it ever was.
No offers ever went in to Dortmund. And City never made a salary offer to the player.
The Manchester Evening News back this up and say no concrete approach was ever made.
Jude Bellingham was seemingly not a priority target for Man City, as Real Madrid strike agreement to sign England star
So Bellingham is La Liga-bound, as expected.
But it’s interesting that there was apparently no challenge at all from City.
The fee that is being reported seems very reasonable for a player of Bellingham’s quality and potential. So one wonders why City didn’t make an official approach.
After all, Bellingham is already one of the best midfielders in the world.
The decision not to go for him will be especially odd if Ilkay Gundogan ends up leaving the club.
Hopefully, City don’t end up having regrets over this.
