Real Madrid News
Borussia Dortmund intent on renewing €150 million-rated Real Madrid target
Jude Bellingham is set to spark a major transfer war in the coming months. The Borussia Dortmund midfielder is one of the most sought-after commodities in the market heading into the summer.
Top clubs like Real Madrid, Manchester City, Liverpool, and Chelsea are all vying to sign up the 19-year-old England international.
At the same time, Borussia Dortmund are unwilling to go down without a fight and are set to make all the efforts to tie and keep hold of their prized asset.
Indeed, the Bundesliga club’s director, Sebastian Kehl, confirmed in a recent interview that he fully intends to offer a new contract to Bellingham so that he can stay at Signal Iduna Park beyond the current season.
“I will try to extend his contract, yes,” Kehl told ZDF (h/t Fabrizio Romano). “We have not spoken with Jude and his family yet. The player is relaxed and focused on football.”
Bellingham’s current contract with Dortmund runs until the summer of 2025, which already puts them in a solid position to negotiate a significant fee for the Englishman.
As per reports, if they are unable to renew the former Birmingham City ace, the Black and Yellows will hold out for a massive €150 million for their prized asset.
While Real Madrid remain keenly interested in Bellingham, the reigning champions of Spain and Europe are unwilling to meet that valuation in the summer.
The Premier League clubs have the financial might to match the €150 million valuation for Bellingham while they would also be in a position to offer him a much more lucrative contract as well.
At the same time, with Dortmund striving to keep hold of the 19-year-old, Real Madrid’s prospects of signing him are starting to diminish slowly.
In what could be a real deal breaker for Real Madrid ahead of their Copa del Rey semi-final second leg clash against Barcelona, it has been revealed that as many as three Barça will be absent from the game while another key player remains a major doubt.
The list includes the likes of Pedri, Ousmane Dembele and Andreas Christensen. The trio is certain to miss the game through respective injuries while a certain Frenkie de Jong is more or less ruled out, as per Javi Miguel.
It must be remembered that Barcelona are heading into the second leg with a 1-0 advantage. But the absence of the aforementioned players means Madrid can work on exploiting the frailties.
Despite the absence of such big names, Barcelona did pretty well against Elche in their previous outing, coming out 4-0 victorious, with the goals coming from Robert Lewandowski, Ansu Fati and Ferran Torres.
With options lacking in midfield, Xavi decided to use the likes of Sergi Roberto and Eric Garcia along with Gavi in the heart of the lineup. In any way, they do have Sergio Busquets and Franck Kessie as backups if needed.
The defence, on the other hand, was perfectly guarded by Jordi Alba, Marcos Alonso, Ronald Araujo and Jules Kounde.
One can expect Xavi to once again interchange Araujo with Kounde on the right since the Uruguayan has been rather successful in minimizing the threat of Vinicius Jr.
As far as Madrid are concerned, they are sweating over the fitness of three key defenders, namely, Antonio Rudiger, Nacho, and Ferland Mendy. Between these three, the Frenchman is out for about a month while Rudiger and Nacho are expected to be back before the Clasico.
If there are no casualties against Real Valladolid, Madrid will have a perfect midfield and attack, with only Mariano Diaz missing.
