Jude Bellingham appears to have been given the green light to leave Borussia Dortmund this summer with Real Madrid leading the race to sign the English teenager.
At his own request, he was left out of the German team’s crucial final day clash and he has since held crunch talks with big figures at the club, which suggests a parting of the ways is on the horizon.
Dortmund needed a win on the final day of the season to clinch the Bundesliga title, but instead drew 2-2 with Mainz. Bellingham, struggling with a knee injury, missed the last two games of the campaign but was still named the league’s player of the season.
After that painful end to the season, when Dortmund came so close to ending Bayern’s decade-long stranglehold on the Bundesliga, Bellingham was hurting as much as anyone in the Signal Iduna.
In fact, he and his family were the last to leave the stadium on Saturday.
Bellingham in Dortmund talks
Then, on the Monday, after a grieving period of 24 hours, Bellingham was the first player to report to Dortmund’s training centre.
There, he held talks with Hans-Joachim Watzke, Dortmund’s CEO, along with sporting director Sebastian Kehl and coach Edin Terzic.
A meeting of that nature could only be about the player’s future, but the 19-year-old’s mind has been made up for a while: he wants new challenges.
Dortmund will rue the fact he couldn’t help them to a title before leaving, but Real Madrid can offer him the chance to compete for the Champions League.
Structure of the deal
Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund have already held several video meetings to discuss the payment required to allow Bellingham to make the move to Spain.
The fee is believed to be in the region of 100 million euros and there will be add-ons as well.
However, the key point in discussions has been the payment plan, with Los Blancos keen to amortise the deal over several years in three or four instalments.
They are aware that this will mean paying more in the long run in order to convince Dortmund to compromise on the financing schedule, but they are prepared to do so as Bellingham is seen as such a key part of their future.
The hope in Madrid is that the deal will be wrapped up relatively quickly once the season has officially concluded. Bellingham will sign a six-year-deal to become part of the new-look and modernised Madrid midfield.
