Despite England leaving the Qatar 2022 World Cup in the quarterfinals, Jude Bellingham has shown that he is capable of transferring the high level he shows at Borussia Dortmund to the first international scene. He has been a starter in all the games and an important part in the English victories, also scoring a goal and giving an assist. All of them reasons to reaffirm Real Madrid’s commitment to the British, the goal for next summer, as AS announced in March.
After the great season that Luka Modric had last year, despite the fact that he is already 37 years old, Real Madrid decided to renew him for one more season, which delayed plans in relation to Bellingham. The idea is to try to incorporate him in 2023, in this case whether or not the Croatian will continue to wear white, since Madrid’s intention is to continue influencing the calm renewal of the squadas it has already been doing with Rodrygo, Vinicius, Camavinga, Valverde, Tchouameni… Although the white club already knows who will be the main competitor in the market in the fight to sign Bellingham: Liverpool.
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A few days ago, ‘Sport Bild’ published in Germany that the English club had already entered into conversations with the player and with Dortmund in their intention to make Bellingham return to his native country. The player was born in Stoubridge, on the outskirts of Birmingham and just two hours’ drive from the city on the Mersey River; certainly an incentive for Bellingham. And Liverpool also has another asset: its coach, Jürgen Klopp, helped Borussia win five titles, including two Bundesligas, and he maintains great relations with the German club’s board of directors.
But Real Madrid also has its weapons. The first and foremost, without a doubt, is its historical appeal: no other team can say that it houses 14 European Cups in its showcases.. There is also his current sporting moment, as he is the current European and League champion and has the current Ballon d’Or winner in his squad. And last but not least, relations with Dortmund that are also excellent. Florentino Pérez and Hans-Joaquim Watzke became friends since Madrid signed Nuri Sahin in 2011 and since then they have met several times on the marketas in Sahin’s own loan back or Achraf and Reinier’s loans, the first of them especially successful.
Mbappé, Tchouameni… and Bellingham?
In terms of economic power, Real Madrid does not feel inferior to Liverpool, far from it. The ownership of the club is not English, but American, it belongs to the Fenway Sports Group, company that also owns the Boston Red Sox (baseball) and in which NBA player Lebron James has a significant stake; but Madrid does not put Liverpool in the same bag as City or PSG, clubs with property based in the Middle East and that distort the market with their signings and salaries, totally out of the market. ANDhe Liverpool has distinguished itself for being a club that follows the rules and its sporting success (it has reached three of the last five Champions League finals, although it could only win one; he lost the other two precisely against Madrid) has been achieved with good management and success in the signings, starting with Klopp himself.
Ultimately, everything will depend on the decision made by the player, who already knows who the two main suitors are. Liverpool and Real Madrid will reissue a duel in the market that has already been seen several times, also recently. For example, in the case of Mbappé: Liverpool always appeared as the Premier’s favorite to qualify for French, although behind Madrid at all times; In the end, both were left without what they wanted, as Kylian chose to continue in Paris. Or Tchouameni, last summer, as he himself recounted: “The first club to show interest in me was Liverpool. There were some discussions, but as soon as Real Madrid came in I decided my future. I didn’t doubt it for a single second. I told my agent to do everything possible to go to Real Madrid”.
