Borussia Dortmund and England midfielder Jude Bellingham ‘dreams’ to one day play for Real Madrid, according to Santi Aouna.
Earlier this week, Aouna reported that Bellingham’s father, Mark, met with Madrid chief scout Juni Calafat in London on Tuesday.
The European champions are one of many clubs interested in signing the 19-year-old this summer.
Dortmund are hopeful that Bellingham will stay in Germany but obviously understand that it will be tricky to keep hold of him.
Real Madrid, Liverpool and Manchester City are believed to be the frontrunners for the player’s signature, while Manchester United and Chelsea are also keen.
Should Bellingham move at the end of the season, he is expected to cost at least £125million.
That fee would smash the British transfer record should he move to the Premier League. The current record is Enzo Fernandez’s £107m move to Chelsea in January.
Every day there is a new Bellingham report in what is usually a boost or a blow for Liverpool, and this update is the latter.
Aouna adds that Bellingham ‘dreams one day’ of being a Madrid player and has ‘entrusted’ that information to his Dortmund teammates.
It is added that the 19-year-old is a ‘fan’ of former Los Blancos player and manager Zinedine Zidane, who invited the player’s father to a box to watch the Spanish giants beat Liverpool in the 2022 Champions League final.
Meanwhile, Thierry Henry has said that “everyone knows” that Bellingham “wants to play for Liverpool”.
The Arsenal legend said this while on CBS Sports punditry with Reds legend Jamie Carragher, so he might have been on the wind-up.
Speaking to TEAMtalk in February, transfer expert Ben Jacobs revealed that Liverpool are leading the race to sign Bellingham.
A lot can change in a month. However, it is believed that Dortmund’s asking price could play into the hands of the Reds, with Real Madrid unlikely to be able to afford the midfielder.
While some might believe FSG would be reluctant to pay over £100m on a player, they should at least not have Madrid to deal with in the battle to complete the signing.
After shutting down reports of a sale of the club, Liverpool owner John Henry admitted this week that he is committed to the club and will ‘invest wisely’ in the transfer market.
Henry told the Liverpool Echo: “We have and will continue to focus our attention on investing wisely in the transfer market and we remain incredibly proud of our squad.
“At the same time we continue investing in our training facilities, our main stand and currently the Anfield Road stand.
“In regard to Liverpool Football Club, our commitment remains stronger than ever.”
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