Chelsea may have to shatter the Premier League transfer record in order to rival Liverpool in an immense transfer battle for Jude Bellingham next summer.
The 19-year-old is one of the hottest prospects and is expected to be the centre of one of the biggest bidding wars in recent memory with a host of top clubs all preparing to set aside a huge portion of their budget to make an offer for the England midfielder.
Bellingham, who will be a key part of Gareth Southgate's World Cup squad with the Three Lions, joined Borussia Dortmund from Birmingham City in 2020 for £22m as a 17-year-old and has already become one of the most in-demand players in world football with serious interest from Manchester United, Real Madrid and Manchester City as well as Liverpool and Chelsea.
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For Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, Bellingham is one of several new midfield targets in their plans for an overhaul next year. The Blues could lose Jorginho and N'Golo Kante for free and already have depleted options in the middle of the park, having not signed a player permanently in that position since 2018.
He won't come cheap though and Dortmund's asking price is expected to be beyond the £100m mark. Real Madrid themselves have already shown a willingness to spend that sort of money after splashing out £80m for Aurelien Tchouameni over the summer, whilst Chelsea spent £52m just on teenage players, too.
Liverpool, who have their own midfield crisis with Fabinho fitness issues, Jordan Henderson ageing and Naby Keita not a trusted option consistently, are also set to go big for Bellingham and, according to Bild in Germany, have set aside €100 million (£85.9 million) to bid for Bellingham. That would reportedly fall well short of the €150 million (£128 million) demands of the German club, though.
This figure alone would comfortably break the £100 million Manchester City spent on Jack Grealish last summer as the most expensive Premier League signing.
Chelsea are also looking at Declan Rice and Edson Alvarez in the midfield - West Ham star Rice could also end up costing close to the £100m mark and financial restraint may well end up forcing the Blues to pick between pursuing one or the other next summer.
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