Chelsea have reportedly set their sights on Jude Bellingham, who could soon be valued around £100 million by Borussia Dortmund.
According to a report by Eurosport, Jude Bellingham has popped up on the radar of Chelsea over a move in the summer transfer window. The 17-year-old English prodigy is set to become a midfield priority for the Blues, but is open to remaining at Borussia Dortmund heading into next season.
Jude Bellingham is a player who has long been rated as the next big thing to have emerged out of English football. The teenage prodigy had already grabbed a lot of eyeballs when he did not just break into the first-team setup at Birmingham aged just 16, but became a mainstay in midfield for the Championship club while also becoming their youngest ever goalscorer.
Naturally, such a talent commanded a lot of interest, but it was Borussia Dortmund who won the race to sign him last summer. At the Signal Iduna Park, Bellingham has slowly grown in stature, making 39 appearances across all competitions, chipping in with 3 goals and 4 assists. His continued progress has alerted the top clubs again, with Chelsea, in particular, interested.
At Chelsea, Thomas Tuchel has quite a few top class midfielders at his disposal, with several out on loan as well. N’Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic and Jorginho have already been giving the German manager a major selection headache, with young Billy Gilmour waiting in the wings as well.
In addition, the likes of Ross Barkley, Ethan Ampadu and Ruben Loftus-Cheek will hope to impress the Chelsea boss ahead of the 2021/22 season to make a case to establish a foothold in the squad again. But, given that there are no guarantees over the trio’s position at Stamford Bridge, coupled with the fact that Jorginho has been constantly linked with a return to Italy means the Blues need to keep their options open.
With that in mind, Brazilian midfielder Gabriel Menino is one of the players who have been linked with Chelsea in recent weeks, while Bellingham is a viable target for the west Londoners as well. In fact, the report suggests that the 17-year-old is seen as a better buy than someone like Declan Rice, who was being prioritised by former manager Frank Lampard.
Dortmund, though, are likely to be hesitant to part ways with the English prodigy, seeing as they are already under pressure to sell Jadon Sancho and Erling Haaland, amid a lot of interest in the duo. In addition, Bellingham, who recently impressed in defeat to Manchester City, is also open to snubbing Chelsea to stay put at the Signal Iduna Park, even if Dortmund miss out on Champions League qualification.
It has also been claimed that Dortmund could demand as much as £100 million for Bellingham by the time they inevitably offload him. For now, though, it looks like the teenage prodigy is the subject of interest from Chelsea, who are unlikely to secure his services come summer.
