Chelsea have been given even more incentive to try and sign Jude Bellingham in the future amid reported interest from the west London club. The former Birmingham City star still has over three years remaining on his contract at Borussia Dortmund, though, and would likely cost a substantial fee.
According to a report from Goal last summer, the 18-year-old midfielder is a long-term target for Chelsea. The England sensation has been of interest to the Blues since his early teens and the fondness of his talents has unsurprisingly not gone away given his emergence since joining Borussia Dortmund in July 2020.
As well as this, according to German news outlet BILD, Real Madrid are strongly interested in Bellingham as well and could look to make a move for the teenager in the 2023 summer transfer window. It's said that Bellingham's value is now way over £100million, with his price rocketing since moving to Dortmund for just £30m less than two years ago.
READ MORE: Gareth Southgate comments capture Jude Bellingham transfer Chelsea suitability
Bellingham played 90 minutes for England on Tuesday evening as they cruised past Ivory Coast in a friendly at Wembley. The midfielder was one of the Three Lions' standout performers on the night and once again showcased his maturity on the big stage despite being the tender age of 18.
After the game, former England midfielder Paul Ince tipped Bellingham to become "world-class" one day and also likened his situation to fellow Chelsea target Declan Rice, who also starred in his country's win at Wembley. Ince said on ITV: "He’s a great prospect, he’s got all the attributes you’d look at and say he’s a world-class player.
"Some of the things he does here today, you’d say he can be world-class. It’s about keeping your feet on the ground, it’s the same with Declan Rice.
"They’re at the early stages of their careers and they’ve got a long, long way to go. If you can play at the highest level for 10-15 years, then you become a world-class player, not based over one or two years."
England boss Gareth Southgate, when speaking in his pre-match press conference earlier in the week, warned Bellingham that for the sake of his international career, a move to the Premier League could be the best option for him. Southgate said: "The league [Bundesliga] is definitely a brilliant league for young players and coaches to develop but of course 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.
"He is already getting brilliant experiences with club and European football already so he'll be involved in the game and it will be good to see how he does. He is developing exceptionally well for a player of his age. He is being asked to play in a number of different positions this year."
