Jude Bellingham could emulate Erling Haaland's 'dispassionate' scoring system to decide which side to join next summer, according to CBS journalist Ben Jacobs.
The 19-year-old looks set to have his pick of Europe's top clubs - including Liverpool - come the end of the season after an outstanding first-half of his domestic campaign with Borussia Dortmund. The midfielder has nine goals in all competitions including four in five Champions League games, while he has also captained Dortmund on occasion.
The German outfit hinted earlier this week that their may be forced to sell their talisman, with CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke revealing that he and Bellingham are set for post-World Cup talks and that the teenager 'should just tell us whether he wants to stay or whether he wants to leave', adding that his side 'can’t afford to have a fight financially' with any top sides.
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But Watzke and his club are no strangers to offloading their brightest talents for huge profit. Last summer they said farewell to Erling Haaland once a £51million release clause was triggered. The Norwegian goal machine, much like Bellingham, had an endless list of clubs attempting to court him.
According to Jacobs, the 22-year-old comprised an objective scoring system for all the teams trying to sign him, rating them in a number of different factors in order to determine his destination - and it could be a method his former teammate at Dortmund tries himself.
“I think Bellingham, from what I gather, will do exactly what Haaland did [when deciding his choice of club]," Jacobs told Football Transfers. “He’ll score who he joins dispassionately, which is really key. So, when Haaland joined Manchester City, of course he looked at the sentiment and the fact that his father played for the football club.
“But he also created a bunch of columns, ranging from manager to teammates to training facilities to where the team was to pay packet to City and so on. And some of them were objective categories and some of them were subjective categories.
"He scored them and he had a gut instinct from what I understand, that Manchester City were his favourite club, but the data and all these columns from a more dispassionate, neutral sense added up. He scored all the suitors and Manchester City were top of the list, and I think Bellingham will do the same and that’s going to be very important.”
Bellingham's pool of potential clubs may be reduced between now and summer as a result of his sky-rocketing value. The former Birmingham star's price-tag has varied massively, with reports rising up to £150million already. But a continuation of his form in Qatar over the next six weeks will only see that rice further, squeezing financially inferior sides out of the race.
The midfielder joined up with the England squad earlier this week and is expected to play a pivotal role in any success, starting on Monday when the Three Lions face Qatar.
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