Liverpool transfer target Jude Bellingham has confirmed he will not be leaving Borussia Dortmund this summer and said he ‘will be here next season and ready to go’.
The English midfielder has been linked to a number of major European clubs including the Reds and the ECHO understands that Bellingham is a player the Reds do admire. However, any possible move was always likely to come in 2023 because of the World Cup later this year and due to Erling Haaland's £51m switch from the Westfalenstadion to Manchester City.
The former Birmingham City prodigy has won 12 caps for England and will hope to have a big impact in Qatar later this year. But he confirmed the build-up to that tournament will be spent at Dortmund. “I will be here next season ready to go and really excited,” he told the Times earlier this week.
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After the German side finished their campaign with a 2-1 win over Hertha Berlin on Saturday, Bellingham outlined his plans for next season. He tweeted: “A good end to a season of many ups and downs. Once again, thank you for your incredible support. Can’t wait for the next one but first time to recover. All the best to the guys leaving the club, it was a pleasure.”
The midfielder is contracted in Germany until 2025 and said that Dortmund’s rivalry with Bayern Munich is a key factor in his desire to stay at the club. He told the Times: “In terms of the rivalry with Bayern, we have kind of been a bit off them for the past few years, and for a player like me it gives a lot of excitement that that can be the end goal. To stop a run of ten years would be something amazing for Dortmund and me. That’s why I have so much determination to go again next year, because it would be one of the biggest achievements in Europe to essentially knock off the team that have been so dominant for so long.”
Perhaps Bellingham will end up at Anfield one day but for now his determination to succeed in Germany shines on bright. “The only future I think about is the next game for Dortmund," he told Ruhr Nachrichten BVB. "I look forward to next season. I look forward to it finally starting. But yes, I will be here next season and I will be ready.”
