It’s no secret that Manchester City are interested in Jude Bellingham, but Pep Guardiola knows he will have to battle Liverpool and Real Madrid for his signature this summer.
Borussia Dortmund are resigned to losing the 19-year-old and want between €100m-€150m (£89.8m-£134.7m) for his signature. The lofty valuation will price out a lot of clubs, but journalist Rudy Galetti recently revealed City have finally begun talks.
He told GiveMeSport: “We have to pay attention to Manchester City, who are in the race. They are starting talks with Borussia to go deeper into the situation of Bellingham. Everything is still to be decided and at the moment we are only just at the beginning of the race for Bellingham.”
Bellingham has made 24 appearances in all competitions this season, scoring 10 goals with four assists. The England international has played 114 times in total for Dortmund, contributing 44 goals, so he’s the freescoring midfielder Guardiola wants.
Pep has been critical of Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan’s lack of goals this season, with the pair failing to score in the Premier League since August, so Bellingham would be the perfect upgrade.
City have a good relationship with Dortmund, signing Erling Haaland and Manuel Akanji last summer, so there shouldn’t be a problem with negotiations either.
The question will be, where does Bellingham want to go? Liverpool are confident that the 19-year-old would join them over the competition, but it’s very early days.
In other news, Man City identify £35.9m replacement for Ilkay Gundogan and Pep Guardiola ‘is a fan’
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