Chelsea face a tough battle to sign Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jude Bellingham this summer, with both Liverpool and Real Madrid plotting their own moves for the 18-year-old.
Bellingham has risen to prominence as one of Europe's most promising talents since moving to the Bundesliga from Birmingham City and is now being targeted by a host of elite sides. Dortmund, however, are under no pressure to sell and will hold out for a sizeable transfer fee.
The midfielder is currently valued at £67 million by Transfermarkt and has started all but two Bundesliga games for Dortmund this season. In that time, he has scored three goals and provided seven assists. Despite exiting in the group stages, Bellingham also scored one goal and laid on three assists in six Champions League matches too.
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Bellingham is currently on international duty with England and his set to play against the Ivory Coast in a friendly on Tuesday night. But ahead of the game, Gareth Southgate hinted that a move to the Premier League would improve his chances of becoming a regular for the Three Lions.
"The league is definitely a brilliant league for young players and coaches to develop," Southgate told his press conference. "But of course the standard of the Premier League is undoubtedly higher, I think we see that in the European competitions.
"Our top teams are going to be right at the end of the Champions League every year, the financial power of our league is blowing everyone else out of the water, so our big teams are going to be the main players in those competitions as they have been in the last years, really.
"We’ve talked to him about his game this week. There are things, understandably for any player, for him to work on and for him some specifics we are looking for from him. But he is very coachable, wants to learn and is highly motivated."
As per reports from Bild, transfer competition is continuing to intensify. The report states that both Liverpool and Real Madrid are looking to sign Bellingham, although Los Blancos would prefer to bring him in during the summer of 2023.
