Jude Bellingham Real Madrid transfer not as close as claimed

Jacque Talbot

• Updated: 15 Jan 2023 11:43 GMT
• 4 min read

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Jude Bellingham remains targeted by various elite clubs and has not made a decision with a regard to his future while Liverpool have set aside a budget specifically to bring him to Anfield, FootballTransfers understands.

Reports in Spain maintain that the England international is leaning towards a move to Real Madrid but we have been informed by those close to Borussia Dortmund that no decision has been made and it is the same situation which we reported late last year.

The youngster - whom FootballTransfers values at €88m - has also attracted interest from Manchester City.

Undoubtedly, Champions League football is a big factor in what Bellingham decides in 2023, when he is set to leave BVB for a fee significantly above €100m.

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At the moment, every club linked - Liverpool, City, Real - is under the impression that they have him in the bag - but we understand there is still some way to go.

Bellingham remains Liverpool’s biggest target and they are in dialogue with the teenage star. Depending on who you speak to, the general feeling is that his ambition is a move to Merseyside, but should they miss out on a top-four spot this season and fail to earn a place in the Champions League, it will dampen their chances.

Liverpool are traditionally good at selling their project to players but their plight cannot be ignored and they would need to kick on this campaign to maximise their chances.

In fact, the side, who made every effort to sign Bellingham over the summer with BVB refusing to budge, have set aside a ‘Bellingham budget’ for the summer window, we are told.

Last year, the Reds moved for the player after failing in their pursuit of Aurelien Tchouameni - the club had met the Frenchman and his family a week before the FA Cup final in 2022 and, by some accounts, were willing to pay Monaco the €100 million total fee - but the deal collapsed when it became apparent that Liverpool were not the priority. They moved onto Bellingham straight after.

Liverpool’s midfielder summer targets

For the summer, we are told the club have the money to bring in Bellingham as well as another major signing for midfield.

Matheus Nunes is liked but a lot counts on whether Wolves go down this season and if the player tries to force his club’s hand given he signed a contract with the Midlands side over the summer until 2027. The deal could prove tricky.

Ruben Neves was wanted by Jurgen Klopp when he was just a youngster in 2015 but nothing transpired. Klopp's assistant, Pep Lijnders, remains a massive fan of the player though - while the Reds have a great relationship with his agency, Jorge Mendes’ Gestifute, who also have Darwin Nunez, Fabinho and Diogo Jota on their books.

The Reds’ form has dwindled this season and there are calls for bringing in a supplementary midfielder in January.

We are told that despite playing it down to the media, they are very much in the hunt to fill that position in this window and interest in Teun Koopmeiners, Khephren Thuram and Manu Kone remains. A lot will depend on if the right deal falls their way, but work is certainly being done in the background.

Lastly, we were told that there was not much in the Enzo Fernandez links; that it was a great deal of noise coming from the agent and Liverpool were never going to meet Benfica’s release clause of €120m at this point.

Moises Caicedo is also liked but the way things are, especially with Brighton’s valuation, a move looks improbable.