Real Madrid have agreed to sign England midfielder Jude Bellingham from Borussia Dortmund for an initial fee of £88.5m.
With a deal worth 103 million euros ($110 million), Madrid made the 19-year-old one of the most expensive players of all time. The price could go up by up to 30% more.
At the Qatar World Cup in 2022, Bellingham stepped up to the biggest stage and led England to the quarterfinals, where they were narrowly knocked out by France, who ended up coming in second place.
The midfielder, who will turn 20 later in June, gave the Three Lions grace and balance. He worked hard on both ends of the pitch and was wise beyond his years.
When he became Dortmund’s captain in October of last year, he was only 19 years old, but his cool head helped him get the job. He led the team to the edge of a rare title.
Edin Terzic, the coach of Dortmund, called Bellingham “the oldest 19-year-old in the world” and was surprised by how well he always played.
“It is extraordinary to be able to play football so consistently at that age,” said Terzic.
This season, Bellingham played in 31 Bundesliga games and scored eight goals. He was named the best player in the Bundesliga in May, two days after his team lost the title in the last game of the season.
After hurting his knee, the Englishman didn’t play in the 2-2 draw with Mainz. He watched with frustration as his team missed out on the win that would have given them their first title since 2012.
Bellingham started his career at Birmingham City, where he worked his way up from the youth team to the first team. In his one season with the first team, 2019-20, he helped the club stay in the Championship.
At 16 years and 38 days old, the midfielder became Birmingham’s youngest player ever. He beat Trevor Francis’ record, which had stood since 1970.
When Bellingham left for Dortmund in 2020, Birmingham made the brave decision to retire his shirt number, 22, “to remember one of our own and to inspire others.”
The German team paid 27 million euros (about $25 million) for the 17-year-old when he was only 17. That amount has more than quadrupled since then.
Bellingham and Dortmund failed in their attempt to stop Bayern Munich from completely dominating the Bundesliga, but he won the German Cup in 2021 by beating RB Leipzig 4-1 in the final.
“I’ve never seen a 19-year-old where you have the feeling that he could have three kids at home, he’s someone going upwards,” said Dortmund teammate Niklas Suele, also highlighting his maturity.
Gareth Southgate, who is the coach of England, said that Bellingham was always trying to get better.
“The thing that makes the difference is the mindset, the drive, the desire to learn and improve, and he has all of that,” said the coach, after Bellingham inspired the team to victory over Senegal in the World Cup last 16 in December.
Dortmund has shown that it is a good place for young players to do well. Erling Haaland, Jadon Sancho, Ousmane Dembele, and others have done well there. Bellingham is the latest young player to do well there.
Since Real Madrid bought Eden Hazard from Chelsea in 2019 for 134 million euros ($143 million), this is the most money they have spent on a player.
Florentino Perez, the president of Real Madrid, has stopped signing “Galacticos” for the most part, but he didn’t pass up the chance to sign Bellingham and take care of the team’s midfield for maybe the next ten years.
Los Blancos have been trying to find long-term replacements for players like 37-year-old midfielder Luka Modric and 33-year-old midfielder Toni Kroos.
In the last two summer transfer windows, Los Blancos brought in young French players Eduardo Camavinga and Aurelien Tchouameni and sold holding midfielder Casemiro to Manchester United.
Bellingham is another important piece for Madrid, who want to make progress in the summer transfer market after losing to Manchester City in the semi-finals of the Champions League.
With players like Karim Benzema, Eden Hazard, and Marco Asensio leaving, Madrid’s move to sign Bellingham is both a statement of intent and the start of something new.
Manchester City and Liverpool were also interested in Bellingham, but Madrid, which has won the Champions League a record 14 times, was always in the driver’s seat. Bellingham is now going to help Madrid win more titles.
