Revealed: Why Bellingham will join Man City over Real Madrid

Stuart Telford

• Updated: 23 May 2023 09:00 CDT
• 3 min read

Jude Bellingham is in high demand after his performances with Borussia Dortmund and England, and looks certain to move club in the summer. Manchester City have a key advantage over Real Madrid according to Rio Ferdinand.

Bellingham was given a tour of Old Trafford by Sir Alex Ferguson by City's crosstown rivals Manchester United before he joined Dortmund from Birmingham in the summer of 2020, and it has proved to be a good decision so far.

Bellingham has already led Dortmund out in the Champions League at the tender age of 19, and has been given the top-flight minutes that have helped him blossom into one of England's best players.

READ: Will Real Madrid pay €150m for Jude Bellingham?

Bellingham is now valued at €88 million by Football Transfers' in-house algorithm, and it is understood his current employers want well over €100m in order to part with a player who is under contract until 2025.

Liverpool were linked with Bellingham in the summer but now Man City and Real Madrid look to have pulled to the front of the queue. Ferdinand - who won six Premier Leagues and a Champions League with Man Utd between 2002 and 2014 - the nascent star only has one decision to make.

"He'll say, 'listen, I've got a couple of mates there, English boys. I can go to Madrid in five years,'" Ferdinand told his YouTube channel FIVE.

READ: 10 players who could join Man City in January

Ferdinand: 'there's no rush'

"There's no rush. I just think he thinks: 'you know what, I'm the superstar. I'm going to win the Premier League, because I'm an English-born boy. And then I'll go to Madrid, and I'll do the same there in a few years."

Bellingham is currently at the World Cup with England where he has Man City players Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Kyle Walker, John Stones and Kalvin Phillips for company, but his relationship with Norway international Erling Haaland could also prove key.

Bellingham and Haaland - who was born in Leeds - spent two seasons together at the Signal Iduna Park before Haaland left in a €60m move this summer, and the striker has reportedly sounded his former teammate out.

Former Dortmund players Manuel Akanji and Sergio Gomez also now ply their trade at the Etihad.