Real Madrid supposedly fear Manchester City making a formal offer for the transfer of Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jude Bellingham as it could inflate his fee.
According to Ben Jacobs, writing in this week’s edition of his exclusive CaughtOffside column, Man City are yet to make an approach for Bellingham, despite having a long-standing interest in the England international.
Bellingham could be an ideal signing for Pep Guardiola’s side, though for the time being it seems that Real remain in pole position to win the race for the 19-year-old’s signature.
It isn’t quite done yet, though, according to Jacobs, and it seems there’s some fear about City stepping up their interest soon as it could complicate things and drive up the player’s asking price.
“Real Madrid are certainly favourites now to sign Jude Bellingham. They have player buy in. However, they must still negotiate with Dortmund,” Jacobs said.
“Manchester City have always had a concrete interest in Bellingham, and Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland have told him to join. Haaland used a points-scoring system before he moved to Manchester City. This allowed him to look at the move a bit more dispassionately along with factoring in his gut instinct. Bellingham will use a similar tactic, and City have always felt like they would score highly via this method.
“But the club haven’t yet made any formal offer, and Real will be hoping they don’t because that’s when the transfer fee could become even further inflated.”
City face some uncertainty in midfield at the moment, with Ilkay Gundogan looking a possible target for Barcelona, while Jacobs also addressed recent speculation surrounding Kalvin Phillips, which you can read if you subscribe here.