Bellingham bound for the Bernabeu
Real Madrid have completed the signing of England midfielder Jude Bellingham from Borussia Dortmund. Bellingham has penned a six-year deal at the Bernabeu, and the player will be officially unveiled by the club at a presentation ceremony tomorrow, before he then appears in front of the media.
Carlo Ancelotti made signing the former Birmingham City player, 19, a huge priority this transfer window. Los Blancos have had, by their standards, an underwhelming season. While they secured the Copa Del Rey Madrid finished 10 points behind Champions Barcelona in La Liga and were comprehensively beaten by Manchester City in the Champions League semi-finals.
Madrid will pay 103m euros (£88.5m) for Bellingham, in addition to a number of potential add-ons. If those add-ons are achieved, the deal could reach 133.9m euros (£115m).
Real Madrid have put out the following statement:
“Real Madrid C. F. and Borussia Dortmund have reached an agreement for the transfer of the player Jude Bellingham, who will be contracted to our club for the next six seasons.
“Jude Bellingham will be unveiled as a new Real Madrid player tomorrow, Thursday 15 June, at 12:00 noon at Real Madrid City.
“Following this, Jude Bellingham will speak to the media.”
Dortmund’s youngest ever captain moves on
Bellingham became the world’s most expensive 17-year-old in history when he joined Dortmund in 2020. The German club paid Birmingham £25m for the midfielder who went on to excel for Dortmund, making history by becoming the club’s youngest ever captain at the age of 19. Last season he made 42 appearances, scoring 14 goals and making seven assists.
Birmingham are now due a cash windfall, the Midlands club having inserted a sell-on clause into the deal that took Bellingham to Dortmund.
Bellingham is with the England squad, however, will not feature in either of the Euro 2024 qualifiers due to the injury which kept him out of the final Bundesliga match of the season.
Bellingham joins Madrid’s next generation of Midfielders
Real Madrid’s recent success owed much to their midfield of Casemiro, Toni Kroos and Luca Modric. Casemiro left for Manchester United last summer and while Kroos and Modric remain at the club, Bellingham joins a clutch of young talented midfielders who Los Blancos will be looking to bring them further domestic and European success. Federico Valverde, 24, Aurélien Tchouaméni, 23, and Eduardo Camavinga, 20, could, alongside Bellingham, be the heartbeat of Madrid’s team for years to come.
Jobe Bellingham makes move on the same day
While brother Jude was finalising his move to Real Madrid, his brother Jobe Bellingham completed a transfer to Sunderland from Birmingham City for an undisclosed fee. The 17-year-old made 22 Championship appearances last season. He leaves Birmingham at the same age as his brother did three years ago. He will link up with a Sunderland side who finished sixth in the Championship following promotion from League One. They will be hoping to make another serious bid for promotion next season.
