19 year old midfielder Jude Bellingham has long been used to making headlines in professional football. He became Birmingham City’s youngest ever player in their history as he rose through their ranks at only 16 years and 38 days old, and with his performances impressing plenty in the wider world of football, German Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund were in for him in the summer of 2020, reportedly paying a fee that could eventually rise to a whopping £30 million for a lad of that age.
On his debut for Dortmund, he opened his goalscoring account, putting him into their record books as their youngest ever goalscorer and it was not long before England manager Gareth Southgate brought him into the international set up – giving him his debut in November of 2020. Even world cup betting odds for 2022 probably would not have been that generous given the chances of it actually happening.
Given his individual performances out in Germany’s top flight, allied to his growing impression at international level, he really only needed to have a semi competent first World Cup experience out in Qatar for transfer news to really rocket through the rumour mill, and although England ultimately fell at the Quarter Final stage with a 2-1 defeat to France, Bellingham will have certainly done enough to spark even more interest in his services.
Just ahead of the French tie, Liverpool were again being linked with the youngster and other interested parties were claimed to be Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City and Real Madrid, but ESPN believed that Liverpool were in pole position given the legwork that they had already put in with the player and his representatives.
They loosely referenced one source at a rival bidding club who said as much, and also leaned on another reported source indicated that the broader framework of a deal was advancing and almost in place – although it must be noted both Bellingham and his father, Mark, have publicly dismissed that a decision on his next club has even been made yet.
Given his World Cup performances, Dortmund may well be prepared to cash in on him whilst his stock is high when the January transfer window opens, but even if they do not do that, his valuation is unlikely to fall by that much as next summers transfer window approaches – from their point of view it will purely be about whether or not the offer is acceptable, if one formally arrives.
Ahead of the World Cup kicking off, it was speculated that Dortmund would be willing to entertain offers at around the 100 million Euros mark, but claims in the media this week have suggested that they now value the talented youngster at around the 150 million Euros mark and may well insist on a fee of that sort of size in recognition of his recent performances on the world stage.
If they can somehow create a bit of a bidding war, their chances of maybe achieving that increase exponentially and key to that possibly happening could be new Chelsea owners, Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, who will want to make a mark and lay down a statement – particularly with N’Golo Kante and Jorginho in the final years of their contracts.
As the World Cup comes to an end, and the January window moves closer, the speculation about Bellingham’s future will only intensify.
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