Real Madrid News
Real Madrid in contact with the ‘inner circles’ of teenage English prodigy
The transfer market has changed dramatically over the past few years, moving from a relatively parsimonious environment to one with a free-spending culture. With clubs now ready to break the bank to strengthen their squads, the inflation of players’ values has gone through the roof.
Borussia Dortmund did the same with Jude Bellingham when the youngster asked for a move away from Germany. With the youngster’s unquestionable talent and a host of top teams behind his signing, the Bundesliga side saw it as the perfect opportunity to bring home the bacon.
A price tag of around €150 million was immediately slapped against Bellingham’s name, forcing Real Madrid to reconsider their pursuit as the board felt the demands were far too north. Now, the situation has seen another turnaround.
According to reports from MARCA, Dortmund have now given Bellingham permission to choose his next destination himself without any hindrance from the management. Thus, it appears that he will now be sold not to the highest bidder but to the team that offers him the best prospects.
This comes as big news to the offices of Santiago Bernabeu. Real Madrid are already in contact with the midfielder’s ‘inner circles’ and negotiations are expected to speed up in the coming weeks.
The teenager has a contract until 2025 in Germany, but his current team have resigned to the fact that he does not see his future at their club. While Dortmund will still demand north of €100 million for his signing, the fee might no longer be as high as initially speculated.
Bellingham scored one goal and provided one assist for England in the recently concluded FIFA World Cup and was arguably the Three Lions’ best midfielder.
Given his young age and high ceiling, he would be a perfect fit into Carlo Ancelotti’s setup and Real Madrid’s long-term future.
Liverpool were touted as serious competitors for Real Madrid in the race for the 19-year-old, but they have since shifted their focus towards Enzo Fernandez, clearing the way for Los Blancos to land Bellingham in 2023.
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.
