Jude Bellingham agrees personal terms with Real Madrid
Jude Bellingham has agreed personal terms with Real Madrid and informed Borussia Dortmund of his decision to leave the club this summer earlier this month, 90min understands.
Bellingham is one of the most wanted players in world football at present and has been courted by the likes of Manchester City and Liverpool for a number of months, as well as Los Blancos, with all parties anticipating a potential move for the England international in 2023.
The 19-year-old's representatives have spoken to each of the main contenders while Dortmund themselves had their own pitch for Bellingham to extend his contract with the club before moving at a later date. However, Bellingham informed Real of his decision to join them at the start of May via Juni Calafat, the club's chief scout and driving force behind the signings of Fede Valverde, Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo Goes.
Dortmund were later informed by Bellingham's representatives that he would not be extending his deal with them, and that the player instead wanted to push through the transfer to Spain. City were also told of Bellingham's choice - with no bad blood between the parties, Bellingham's decision has been taken as a matter of preference and career mapping.
Read the latest on Jude Bellingham's slated move to Real Madrid
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Bellingham's team have been in talks with Real over the last week to finalise terms and they are now agreed, with the initial deal set to run for six years. A release clause of €1bn has also been set for when the contract is signed.
With the player's wishes now clear, the onus is on Madrid to reach a deal with Dortmund. They are set to speak this month to reach an agreement that suits all parties, though Dortmund have maintained throughout the process that they are looking to reach a deal worth a total value of €150m - a club record sale that would surpass the sum Barcelona paid for Ousmane Dembele in 2017.
There is no release clause set in Bellingham's current contract, meaning the structure of the transfer is open to negotiation for both clubs. Initial talks, 90min has learned, have been centred around payment structure and how much will be paid up front. Real are aware of the size of the deal required and are prepared to be flexible in order to get it over the line - with the teams not far aware from finalising.
On this week's edition of Talking Transfers, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders is joined by Toby Cudworth and Graeme Bailey to discuss all the latest transfer news. On the agenda: Aurelien Tchouameni, Lionel Messi, Moises Caicedo, Rafael Leao, Kim min-Jae, David de Gea, Dusan Vlahovic and more.
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