Bellingham joined by second England star as Real Madrid target

Robin Bairner

• 30 Mar 2023 08:03 BST
• 3 min read

Jude Bellingham is not the only England international on Real Madrid’s transfer shortlist ahead of the summer window, according to reports.

The scramble to sign the Borussia Dortmund star this summer is likely to be intense. Madrid will face competition from the Premier League to sign Bellingham, where Manchester City, Liverpool and even Manchester United hope to have a say in his future.

But Real Madrid’s second English target appears to be equally as ambitious.

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According to AS, Los Blancos are hoping to prise Reece James away from Chelsea.

The Spanish source reports that Madrid are set to bank on the need of the Blues to make a number of big sales in order to balance their books for Financial Fair Play (FFP) for both FIFA and the Premier League.

Clubs in England’s top flight are only permitted to make a loss of £105 million (€120m) over a three-year period, and Chelsea are expected to be close to that threshold after significant transfer spending this season.

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Eight players have been lined up to depart the club, but the problem for Madrid is that James is not one of those. Nevertheless, it appears they are still hoping that Chelsea may wish to solve their financial issues by selling James.

The clubs will face each other in the Champions League, which is seen by Real Madrid as an opportunity to strike up a relationship with the new Chelsea board.

They previously worked smoothly with the Roman Abramovich regime to sign Eden Hazard and Thibault Courtois, though in both deals they had the advantage of knowing the players had a year left on their contracts. Reece James’ Chelsea deal runs until 2028.

Real Madrid’s maximum Bellingham bid revealed

Meanwhile, it looks unlikely that Real Madrid will sign Bellingham this summer.

The Bernabeu side are not prepared to go all-in on the 19-year-old and will only pay a maximum of €120m for the England midfielder. They believe that such a price represents the fee of a prolific striker and will prioritise that if the bidding goes above that figure.

Madrid are also unwilling to break the bank on his salary, giving Manchester City and Liverpool an apparent advantage in the Bellingham bidding.