Real Madrid News
Real Madrid, Man City’s interest the reason for Liverpool dropping out of Bellingham race
Liverpool’s abrupt withdrawal from the race to sign Jude Bellingham earlier today came as a jolt to the world of football. After all Jurgen Klopp’s side has been on the trail for the midfielder for months at end, and had even submitted their first formal offer hours before the news broke.
Florian Plettenberg puts the Reds’ decision into perspective. According to the German journalist, Real Madrid and Manchester City have significantly driven up Bellingham’s price to an exorbitant limit. The administration at Anfield views the total package to be over-inflated for his age and relative inexperience, thus forcing them out of the race.
The news is a surprising development given that Los Blancos has reportedly set an upper limit they were willing to spend on the English protege.
Earlier this month, it even came to light that the Spanish champions had cooled their interest in the star owing to a mismatch in financial expectations.
Yet, Real Madrid and Manchester City are two of the richest institutions in football and, naturally, the involvement of both parties has increased Dortmund’s asking price. Whether either club is willing to reach that figure is a question for another day.
The price set for the English midfielder is now understood to be around €120 million, a number that far supersedes Liverpool’s offer of €90 million.
With only two clubs realistically left in the race, the spotlights now turn to Florentino Perez and his assessment of the situation and asking price.
Investing the mammoth fee on Bellingham would certainly secure Los Blancos’ future in the middle of the park. However, it would put them in a tough spot for other positions of concern including the left-back and centre-forward which need urgent signings come June.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to Saudi Arabia has triggered a wave of massive establishment within the country so much so that the league has approached players like Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets, Sergio Ramos and even Karim Benzema.
Benzema’s departure from Real Madrid is imminent and if a report from Diaro AS is to be believed, the Frenchman contacted his former Madrid teammate, Ronaldo, to ask him for information about the Saudi league, living conditions and other teams.
All this because it is said that the legendary Frenchman has received a lucrative offer from the newly crowned Saudi Pro League champions Al Ittihad. As reported before, the star striker will earn more than €100 million per year across his two-year contract with the Saudi team.
At the moment, the Saudi government has approved all of Benzema’s requests and while it is said that he can join the team of his choice, Al Ittihad’s recent flirting had made them absolute favourites.
That said, the transfer may have taken a u-turn recently, as Benzema spoke about staying at Real Madrid for the foreseeable future.
“Speak to the fans? Speak about what? Why should I speak of the future if I’m in Madrid?”, Benzema said.
“It’s the internet speaking, and reality is not the internet.”
In a recent turn of events, Helder Costa openly spoke about Benzema’s arrival, saying that his team is ‘excited about the arrival of the Balon d’Or winner.’ As if that is not enough, a club fan also showed a Karim Benzema edit on the big screen during their title celebrations.
Meanwhile, since the transfer is not confirmed, Real Madrid continue to be uninformed of Benzema’s decision. And this remains a major problem for the team from the capital city as their summer transfer plan hinges on the continuity of the Frenchman.
At the moment, the team is said to be closing in on the signing of Joselu from Espanyol. However, it must be noted that the forward will only be arriving on a season-long loan as Madrid already have big plans for the summer of 2024, with Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe both lined up.
