The Sun has reported that Chelsea are the latest entrants in the race to secure Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jude Bellingham’s signature next summer.
Bellingham has been at the center of transfer speculation since Erling Haaland departed the club last summer. The Schwarz Gelben though, insisted that Bellingham was not up for sale. The Englishman is being circled by a number of teams and the source has claimed that Manchester United and Liverpool are also interested in signing the 19-year-old.
The former Birmingham City player joined Dortmund in 2020 for a fee of £20 million. Since then, he has gone on to establish himself as an integral player for club and country. He is now currently valued at £100 million, reports the Sun.
Following a record-breaking summer window under new owner Todd Boehly, Chelsea are now targeting another record signing in Bellingham for next summer.
Speaking about his own future, the Stourbridge-born midfielder insisted that it would be disrespectful to Dortmund to make calls on next summer.
The club have done loads for me and made me feel very welcome since I first came and gave me the opportunities to develop even further.
“To look past that and into the future would be disrespectful.”
(via The Sun)
Our View
Chelsea failed to sign any midfielders this summer apart from Carney Chukwuemeka. They need to secure the long-term future of their midfield as Jorginho (30), and Kante (31) are in the final year of their respective contracts.
The London side did try to launch a late swoop for Frenkie de Jong last month but failed in their attempt to sign the Dutch midfielder from Barcelona. Now, their focus has shifted to Bellingham and it looks like they’ll battle Liverpool and Man Utd over a deal.
Bellingham has the quality and temperament to run the midfield of any side that he plays for. Even at the age of 19, Bellingham has got a cool head on his shoulders and is an excellent distributor of the ball; something that is a prerequisite for a world-class midfielder.
Bellingham is certainly an attractive talent and it’s going to be fascinating to see if Chelsea, Liverpool or Manchester United win the race for his signature next summer.
