MY ACCOUNT
Jude Bellingham looks set to ignore a return to England and instead make a summer move to Real Madrid.
It seemed inevitable that the teenager would join a Premier League club at the end of the season, with the likes of Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United all vying for his signature.
Yet reports claim that he has decided to join Los Blancos, at a time when the Spanish giants are transitioning to a new generation.
Ahead of Real’s Copa del Rey final against Osasuna on Saturday, we take a look at Bellingham’s future and the reasons why the European champions are set to swoop for the Borussia Dortmund midfielder.
Unexpected decision
We should not be surprised that Bellingham has decided against making the conventional decision.
Not many youngsters would have turned down the chance to move to Old Trafford but that is just what he did in 2020, instead joining Dortmund less than a month after his 17th birthday.
Bellingham prioritised playing time and it has paid off spectacularly. Still only 19, he is a regular for England and is arguably BVB’s most important player, in a season in which they are fighting for the Bundesliga title.
Now he is set to relocate to the Bernabeu and for a young midfielder who is still developing, it makes a lot of sense.
Luka Modric and Toni Kroos are both set to sign one-year contract extensions at the end of the season. It is hard to imagine two better players that he could learn from.
The prospect of Bellingham playing under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City was an exciting one but so too is the thought of how he might improve while training alongside two midfield legends.
New policy
For Real, signing Bellingham is further proof that they have abandoned the pursuit of Galacticos and are instead concentrating on signing Golden Boys.
The club have long been planning for the day when the inspirational midfield of Modric, Kroos and Casemiro would need replacing. The latter has, of course, already left.
Eduardo Camavinga was signed in 2021 and was joined by his fellow Frenchman Aurelien Tchouameni in 2022.
Bellingham would complete a trio of the world’s top young midfield talents, signed within the last three years.
Further forward, Real have looked to Brazil’s brightest starlets, signing Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo when they were still teenagers. The 16-year-old Endrick will move to Madrid in 2024.
Fierce competition
At an age when many players are still looking to make their debut, Bellingham has racked up nearly 200 senior appearances for both club and country.
So it will do him absolutely no harm to move to a team where competition for midfield places will be fierce.
Aside from Modric, Kroos, Camavinga and Tchouameni, there is also Federico Valverde and Dani Ceballos to compete with.
In the short-term, he might not see as much football as he has grown used to but over the coming years he has the chance to confirm himself as one of the finest talents of his generation.
Bellingham would bring attacking talents that are perhaps lacking from Madrid’s current engine room and few would back against him establishing himself as a regular before long.
It would seem a shame if such an English gem never graced the Premier League but he has plenty of time to one day make the move home.
For now, the Spanish capital seems the ideal destination. Bellingham could not join a bigger club and in terms of his development, he might not find a better one.
