Jude Bellingham is expected to be the focus of one of the main transfer sagas of the summer. Having been linked with a return to England for some time, the Borussia Dortmund star continues to be courted by clubs both in and outside of the Premier League.
Arsenal were once very interested in Bellingham and even came very close to signing the midfielder. Tony Adams tells the story of how the now £100million-plus rated superstar almost made the switch to north London.
"I think it got lost, this one, in the transition of the chief scout [Steve Morrow] at Arsenal going out. He was spotted very early on, not by me, by the Arsenal recruitment office.
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"The chief scout was absolutely bowled over by him and the great prospect that he is. He had more or less done the deal, but at that moment the new sporting director Edu came in from Brazil and had no European experience and no UK experience.
"I think it got lost in the transition, Edu didn't know anything about this player. Unfortunately, the chief scout had the deal kind of done - we missed that one, unfortunately.”
Fast forward to 2023 and Bellingham is again on the move but for figures well beyond what anyone might’ve believed when he left Birmingham. Dortmund will only sell for a potentially record-breaking fee and the race has somewhat thinned according to the latest reports.
Liverpool have reportedly cooled their interest in Bellingham with the associated finances involved in the deal too great for the side who look to potentially be without elite European football next season. The rebuild needed on Merseyside is just too great to be able to justify the financial outlay on Bellingham.
Sport BILD via Bundesliga Latest suggests that Bellingham has ruled out moving to the likes of PSG, Chelsea and even Manchester City. Real Madrid appears to be the clear favourite for the move but where does this leave Arsenal?
The Athletic claim that despite being admirers of Bellingham, the finances of the deal have seemingly put them out of the race. Arsenal have needs in numerous areas in the summer with potentially two central midfield necessities to provide competition to Thomas Partey and Granit Xhaka as they look to establish themselves as frequent title challengers.
Declan Rice is understood by football.london to be the priority. Although interest persists in Moises Caicedo of Brighton who was the subject of two rejected bids topping out at £70million in January.
Trying to sign Bellingham would likely take up most of if not all of their summer budget, even with significant sales and the suggested wages could see him go above even the likes of Gabriel Jesus in the team. Arsenal need quality but they’ve reached where they are being diligent and meticulous in their planning and a huge swoop for Bellingham may not be in this mould.
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