Man City ready to match any Real Madrid bid for Bellingham

Stuart Telford

• 7 Jan 2023 05:50 CST
• 3 min read

Real Madrid are believed to have pulled to the front of the queue in the clamour to sign Jude Bellingham from Borussia Dortmund, but Manchester City's financial muscle could prove telling…

Real are keen to finalise a move for Bellingham in the winter transfer window, and have put together a package that would see the England midfielder earn €12 million a year until 2028, putting him on a par with Aurelien Tchouameni at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Real may have moved beyond their Galactico policy of old, but they remain willing to spend big on young players - as evidenced by Tchoumeni's €100m arrival from Monaco and the €72m acquisition of Brazilian wonderkid Endrick in 2024.

READ: Hazard-ous! Disastrous Eden transfer reason for Real Madrid strategy shift

They could also meet Dortmund's valuation of Bellingham - reportedly north of €100m - but City entering the race could drive up Bellingham's price, both in terms of transfer fee and wages.

City 'willing to match any proposal'

"The Dortmund midfielder, who is in Marbella with his teammates for the next few days, has become an object of desire for Pep Guardiola," report Marca. "The English club, drawing on their economic power, is willing to match any proposal presented by any of the English international's suitors."

City have plenty of transfer budget available having offloaded Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko last summer for a combined €143.4m, and Guardiola is a long-time admirer.

READ: Revealed: Jude Bellingham's Real Madrid contract offer

"He was 17 when he arrived [at Dortmund] but it was not just about his quality, how he was leading, his kicking, going to the referee," he said after Bellingham had scored for the second time in two Champions League meetings with City.

"This guy was something special in terms of his mentality. Now he is 19 and he is already one of the captains. The quality, everybody knows it. The whole package is really good."

Bellingham would also run into many a former Dortmund teammate at City, with Erling Haaland, Manuel Akanji and Sergio Gomez all now calling the Etihad home.