Real Madrid News
Bellingham will reject Dortmund’s €14 million contract offer to join Real Madrid – report
Over the past week or so, things have started to move in Real Madrid’s long-running pursuit of Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jude Bellingham.
The 19-year-old has been at the top of the summer shopping list for the reigning champions of Spain and Europe. And, it has been reported that the Englishman is close to agreeing personal terms with the Merengues, with a meeting between the two clubs to take place to finalise the deal.
Borussia Dortmund, though, have still been carrying a faint hope of keeping hold of Bellingham for at least one more year.
To that end, as per BILD, the Black and Yellows have offered the 19-year-old a significantly improved contract worth €14 million per year until 2026 in the hope that it might convince Bellingham to stay.
However, the former Birmingham City star will reject it in order to join Real Madrid, with the decision already understood to be made by him.
It is further claimed that Bellingham made the decision for himself and that Los Blancos are very confident of closing the deal in the coming weeks.
The report suggests that Dortmund cannot compete with the contract that Real Madrid will offer to him, which would be worth €20 million per year and would run until 2029.
Dortmund, for their part, remain hopeful of making €150 million from Bellingham’s sale, but it has been reported that Real Madrid might not offer such a steep amount and the deal could close for around €120-130 million, including add-ons.
The England star will likely wait until the Bundesliga is over to announce his decision. For now, he remains focused on the title race and would hope to bid goodbye to Signal Iduna Park with the championship in the bag.
Jose Mourinho is looking for solutions to Real Madrid’s problems, and the extended international break has given him time to analyse the team in depth.
Now, according to Defensa Central, one of the conclusions from his assessment concerns Jude Bellingham, Federico Valverde, Bernardo Silva and Arda Guler, the players Mourinho believes should be central to the team’s football.
Although they operate in different positions, the manager wants all four to take a step forward on the pitch.
He wants them to push their lines higher and move closer to the opposition penalty area, believing this would help Real Madrid both defensively and offensively.
Mourinho wants to pin opponents inside their own box
Mourinho wants Real Madrid’s play to go through Bellingham, Valverde, Bernardo and Guler, but he has also asked them to start creating attacks much closer to the opposition area and to link up more closely with the forwards.
The idea is to make the team more compact in possession and force opponents deeper into their own half.
If Real Madrid’s midfield can build play much higher up the pitch, opponents will have to retreat. That would allow Mourinho’s side to improve their pressing, make it more effective and increase the volume of attacks.
As a result, Real Madrid should create considerably more opportunities to score.
A compact Real Madrid for 90 minutes
Mourinho wants his team to stay together and remain compact throughout the full 90 minutes, rather than doing so only in short periods.
Defensively, this would reduce the spaces available for opponents to build their attacks and could force them to play more directly, looking to exploit the space behind the defensive line.
That is an area where the pace and defensive ability of Marc Cucurella and Denzel Dumfries, alongside Aurelien Tchouameni, can provide protection.
The same compactness could also benefit Real Madrid in attack by keeping opponents pinned back. Mourinho wants to use the quality of his players to create a greater number of dangerous situations.
Mourinho’s idea is that Real Madrid’s most talented players must push the team forward and help them put opponents under pressure much closer to the box.
