Paul Scholes has placed Real Madrid at the front of the queue to sign Jude Bellingham this summer, with Manchester United not too far behind. The 19-year-old has been heavily linked with a big move for a while now as he continues to impress for Borussia Dortmund.
Bellingham, who sees his contract at the Signal Iduna Park expire in 2025, has been subject to long-term interest from Chelsea, football.london understands. The west Londoners watched the midfielder during his time as an academy player at Birmingham City but, after failing to act on their interest, the German side swooped in and signed the teenage sensation instead.
The Blues have been left to rue their decision to not sign Bellingham when they had the chance, and now he's arguably the most coveted young player in Europe. According to The Times, Liverpool have cooled their interest in Bellingham with his eye-watering price tag proving to be an issue.
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Two clubs who stand a better chance of coughing up at least £100million this summer are Real Madrid and United. Speaking on BT Sport, Paul Scholes tipped the duo to be strong contenders for Bellingham's signature.
"I think they are [contenders for Bellingham]," said the former Red Devils midfielder. "I think if you’d have gone back a couple of years you’d have said absolutely no chance, or even to the start of this season - the start we had wasn’t really good - but now I think they have to be.
"Looking at this team now he’ll think this is a team that are up and coming for the next couple of years. I do think he’ll sign for Real Madrid - I don’t know why, I’ve just got that feeling - hopefully he comes here because this is a team now with someone like Bellingham and his goals in the middle of the pitch, I think he could make United a proper team."
Last month, prior to The Times' report which ruled Liverpool out of the race to sign Bellingham, Paul Merson insisted that the Englishman would still be open to joining Jurgen Klopp's side even if they don't clinch Champions league qualification for next season.
"I get where Rio Ferdinand is coming from when he says Jude Bellingham will be picking Real Madrid over Liverpool on the basis of their Champions League knockout clash," the former Arsenal midfielder wrote in his column in the Daily Star. "But I've read stories about Bellingham and his family and all they were ever interested in was ensuring he plays football when they picked Borussia Dortmund over Man United.
"One year out of the Champions League at 19 isn't going to define his career if Liverpool miss out on fourth. He's not an egotistical player and my feeling is he likes the challenge."
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