Is Bellingham worth €180m to Man Utd, Chelsea or Liverpool?
Stuart Telford
- Updated: 9 Mar 2022 08:26 CST
- 3 min read
Jurgen Klopp says Jude Bellingham could end up being one of the world's best midfielders. Manchester United and Chelsea would do well to steal a march on the Liverpool manager for the Borussia Dortmund youngster.
Bellingham has exploded onto the popular consciousness since swapping Birmingham City for Dortmund in 2020, racking up 80 club appearances by the tender age of 18 and lifting the 2021 DFB Cup along the way.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said Bellingham "must be lying about being 17" when his side met Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals last year.
The Catalan added: "There was one moment when he didn't get the ball from central defenders, how he shouts and demands that ball to him at 17 means a lot."
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A year on, and Bellingham continues to impress for Dortmund. In the 96th percentile league-wide for dribbles, touches, progressive runs and non-penalty expected goals and assists, the English youngster is already bossing games against players far beyond him in years.
Indeed, The Sun reports that Liverpool boss Klopp holds an interest in him, believing him set to become the world's best midfielder.
Bellingham's huge asking price
The top clubs in England boast packed midfields. Manchester United spent €105 million (£90m) to bring Paul Pogba back from Juventus in 2016, with the €80m (£72m) Chelsea spent on Kai Havertz from Bayer Leverkusen topping their recent spending in the position - even if he has been used as a False 9 by Thomas Tuchel in recent matches.
But Bellingham could add to any team, his vivacious personality and unwavering work ethic underpinned by stats that any of the aforementioned players would be proud of.
DONE DEAL: @BVB have signed Jude #Bellingham from @BCFC, making him the most expensive 17-year-old in history.#FootballTransfers pic.twitter.com/3OBLLXBSik
— Football Transfers (@Transfersdotcom) July 20, 2020
Indeed, it is suggested that Dortmund will start the bidding at €115m but his price could rise as high as €180m.
The youngster has a contract that runs with BVB until 2025, which further drives up the amount of money it would take to pry the youngster away from the Signal Iduna Park, while he has said he is not in a rush to return to England.
Dortmund also don't need to sell, having made in excess of €300m from the sales of Ousmane Dembele, Jadon Sancho and Christian Pulisic - to Barcelona, Man Utd and Chelsea respectively - in recent seasons.
If Man Utd and Chelsea want to steal a march on Klopp and wrestle the Premier League title back from Liverpool or Manchester City, they could do worse than fork out on Bellingham. Indeed, they might have to.
