Real Madrid News
Borussia Dortmund to demand Dembele-like fee for Bellingham as Real Madrid circle
Borussia Dortmund are under immense pressure at the moment. The Bundesliga giants have not enjoyed the best of starts under Edin Terzic and two of their highly-rated young players are facing an uncertain future at the club.
Youssoufa Moukoko is the first one on this list, with the German international reportedly a target for FC Barcelona. But it is Jude Bellingham, who has dominated the headlines in recent weeks, with reports rife of his potential move to Real Madrid at the end of the season.
Borussia Dortmund are expected to make a last attempt to convince Bellingham to prolong his stay at Signal Iduna Park. But the club are certain that the youngster will depart in the summer, in favour of a move to the Santiago Bernabeu.
In the midst of uncertainty over the midfielder’s future, Dortmund are now prepared to squeeze the most out of the youngster.
According to a report from the reliable Ruhr Nachrichten, BVB consider Ousmane Dembele’s 2017 move to Barcelona as a benchmark for the sale of Bellingham.
This means the club are expected to demand well over €100 million for the services of the English international. To put things into perspective, Barça reportedly paid €135 million for Dembele in 2017, including add-ons.
Recent reports suggest that Dortmund will demand a fee of around €100 million upfront while €40 million can be paid through add-ons.
Nevertheless, Bellingham’s staggering price tag is unlikely to deter Real Madrid, who are prepared to spend a fortune for the Englishman. The player, after all, has been identified as the ideal man to lead the Real Madrid midfield in the years to come.
The Merengues intend to initiate negotiations with Dortmund this week as they wish to close the deal at the earliest possible and avoid another case like the Kylian Mbappe saga last summer.
Real Madrid News
Real Madrid midfielder trained away from the group last week, but has no injury – report
With the international break underway, several Real Madrid players have been called up for national team assignments. The stars who have not travelled for international duty have continued to work at the club’s Valdebebas training facility to prepare for the restart.
Toni Kroos is one such player who has remained in Madrid, having retired from international football back in 2021.
However, there had been concerns growing around the 33-year-old’s physical condition as he regularly did indoor work last week and was not spotted in group training with his teammates.
Now, Sergio Quirante has come up with an update on Kroos’ situation, stating that even though the midfielder largely did individual work inside the facilities over the last week, he is fine and has no injuries.
Taking advantage of the international break, the former Bayern Munich superstar is understood to have gone through an individual program to prepare for the final, decisive stretch of the 2022/23 season.
Kroos not being injured comes as a big positive for Real Madrid, ahead of important games against Real Valladolid and Barcelona within the first five days of April.
The rest of the Real Madrid midfield contingent – Luka Modric, Eduardo Camavinga, Aurelien Tchouameni, Federico Valverde, and Dani Ceballos – are all away on international duties and could return with some fatigue from the travel.
So, it is important that Kroos is fully fit and ready to go as Real Madrid look to cut down the gap to the top of the table in La Liga and also make it to the finals of the Copa del Rey by overturning a first-leg deficit against Barcelona in the semi-finals.
Kroos has played 37 matches this season, chipping in with two goals and five assists in the process. With his contract expiring at the end of the season, it is still unclear whether he will renew or hang up his boots.
