Manchester City duo Erling Haaland and Jack Grealish have both spoken to Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jude Bellingham about joining them at the Etihad Stadium.
According to Ben Jacobs in his exclusive CaughtOffside column, Bellingham’s future remains unresolved, with the likes of Liverpool and Real Madrid still in the running, but City players also doing their bit to try to win the 19-year-old round.
Bellingham has been a joy to watch during his time at Dortmund, where he’s developed into a truly world class player who looks like he has a great career ahead of him.
City would surely do well to land a talent like this, and their fans will hope that his international colleague Grealish and former Dortmund teammate Haaland can prove influential.
Still, Jacobs feels it’s unlikely Bellingham will be swayed too much by what other people think and will ultimately decide on the best move for him, based on a number of factors.
“Liverpool have always been braced for another Premier League rival to seriously enter the race, and Manchester City are now the ones to watch,” Jacobs wrote.
“Erling Haaland and Jack Grealish have both told Bellingham to join. Bellingham is not necessarily swayed by what friends or teammates think, but every little bit of input only adds to the intrigue over a potential transfer. From what I am told, Bellingham will score his next move quite dispassionately – as Haaland did when he joined Manchester City.
“Ultimately. Haaland ended up at his dad Alfie’s club, so sentiment can play a factor within that process. But Haaland, like Bellingham will, also looked at finances, the coaching staff, his teammates, the city and everything in between, to ensure the move made sense on paper as well as in his heart. That’s what still gives Liverpool some hope because from what I am told Bellingham likes a lot of what he’s heard.
“Real Madrid have also put in a lot of work on the player side as well. Although it’s not true Bellingham has already picked Real, recent and positive meetings were held in London to try and make progress.”
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