Real Madrid News
Jude Bellingham’s father has held multiple meetings with Real Madrid – German sources
It is no top secret that Real Madrid are gunning for the signing of Borussia Dortmund midfield sensation Jude Bellingham in the summer.
The 19-year-old England international has emerged as the top target for the Merengues ahead of the upcoming transfer window as they seek to slowly move on from the old guard of Luka Modric and Toni Kroos and establish a new order.
To that end, talks have already taken place with Bellingham’s entourage with recent reports revealing that Real Madrid chief scout Juni Calafat held a meeting with the youngster’s father and transfer advisor Mark Bellingham in London.
Now, though, Christian Falk of BILD (h/t Madrid Xtra) is claiming that the meeting in London between Real Madrid and Bellingham’s father was not the only instance of talks taking place. In fact, the two parties are understood to have also met in Madrid.
Talks are seemingly going on constantly between Los Blancos and Bellingham’s entourage as they continnue to probe the possibility of a transfer.
While Real Madrid have a strong interest in the 19-year-old, they are reluctant to match the €150 million valuation that Real Madrid have slapped on him.
That could end up proving to be a sticking point in the transfer, especially considering that Premier League clubs such as Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City are also interested and would be capable of spending big money for his signing.
But, the ongoing talks between Madrid and Mark Bellingham could hint that things are going in the right direction with regard to their pursuit of the former Birmingham City starlet.
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.
