Bellingham agrees Real Madrid deal to avoid Haaland’s Man City problem

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 11 May 2023 13:17 BST
• 3 min read

Jude Bellingham does not want to risk a future Real Madrid transfer by moving to Manchester City, reports suggest, with former Borussia Dortmund teammate Erling Haaland having taken that gamble a year ago.

Bellingham has already agreed his contract with Real Madrid, according to Fabrizio Romano, with an agreement in principle in place to take the England international from BVB to the Bernabeu in the weeks ahead.

Romano stated that Bellingham gave Los Blancos his OK around 10 days ago but stressed that there are still “crucial” steps to be taken before a transfer can be completed.

The 19-year-old Englishman has been one of the most sought-after players in the market this summer, but Madrid are moving steadily towards a transfer being finalised.

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Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool were among the other clubs who were chasing the former Birmingham player, with the biggest threat to the Champions League holders coming from the Etihad Stadium.

Bellingham is expected to make a move to Real Madrid for a fee in the region of €110-120 million, including bonuses.

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Why Bellingham rejected Man City

According to Revelo, City even promised Bellingham that he would be able to move on to Madrid in the future if he agreed to a summer transfer to the Premier League leaders. The midfielder, though, rejected that possibility, viewing it as a “risk”.

There have been reports that his good friend Erling Haaland has a similar agreement in place with Pep Guardiola’s side. The Norway international wants to move to the Bernabeu one day, but his future is now in the hands of City.

Real Madrid still have to close out a deal with Dortmund, though. A meeting between the clubs is set to take place before the end of May.

“It’s agreed on the player’s side but they’re still discussing on the player side,” Romano said.

“Real Madrid believe he is a generational talent and will be a fantastic, fantastic part of the project for the future.”

No serious complications are expected in the talks between Madrid and Dortmund over Bellingham, with only relatively fine details of the transfer negotiations expected to be done.