It has long been inevitable that all elite clubs across Europe would be interested in signing Jude Bellingham when the time comes that he leaves Borussia Dortmund. But just in case any recruitment teams had been living under a rock, the 19-year-old’s performances at the 2022 World Cup have ended any sliver of doubt regarding his destiny for reaching the very top of the sport.
It may look from the score line that England beat Senegal easily enough, but it was uncomfortable for the opening half an hour. Bellingham sorted matters though, by assisting Jordan Henderson for the opening goal before playing a key role in the build-up for the second.
Watching him winning the ball before carrying it up field was a joy to behold, and a perfect snapshot of his strengths. It was inevitable he would generate even more transfer interest in Qatar.
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And speaking of the World Cup hosts, Paris Saint-Germain chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi has effectively thrown his club’s hat in to the ring in the race to sign Bellingham, as he revealed when speaking to Sky News.
“Amazing player, what a player. Obviously, England are lucky to have him. He's one of the best players in the tournament,” he said. “You see how it's his first World Cup and he's calm, relaxed and confident, amazing.”
"That's what everyone wants, I'm not going to hide it, but I respect his club. If we want to talk to him, we will talk to the club first,” Al-Khelaifi added.
On a purely financial level, a move to the French capital obviously makes enormous sense for any player. Per FBRef, PSG have the biggest wage bill in Europe’s big five leagues (which inevitably means it is the largest in the sport). The trio of Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi and Neymar lead the way in the player standings, with Sergio Ramos in the top 10 best paid footballers too.
But would the transfer make sense from a football perspective? It’s going too far to say Bellingham has already conquered German football, but he certainly looks at home there despite still being a teenager. The standard is not as high in Ligue 1, making it a step backwards. Per Euro Club Index, seven of the top 40 clubs across the continent can be found in the Bundesliga where just three are in France (and only PSG are in the leading 36, as arbitrary a marker as that is).
Bellingham’s chances of winning the Champions League would increase with a transfer to Paris, though that would be true if he were to choose any of the super clubs with whom he has been linked. For all their spending power, PSG’s record in Europe’s top competition is not very impressive.
Since they were taken over by their current ownership, Les Parisiens have reached the Champions League final but have also recorded more Round of 16 exits (four) than semi-final appearances (two). As they face Bayern Munich when the competition resumes early next year, they could easily fall at the first knockout hurdle once again. Suspicion will always linger that a relative lack of competition domestically leaves PSG undercooked for the toughest challenges Europe has to offer.
There’s also of the issue of it being very hard for a midfielder to be one of the main men with the team. The front three inevitably overshadow the players stationed behind them and their lack of defensive work places a huge burden upon their teammates.
Former Red Gini Wijnaldum learned this to his cost, after joining PSG when his Liverpool contract expired. In October of his first season, he told NOS Sport : “To be honest, I can't say I'm completely happy [at Paris Saint-Germain] because the situation is not what I wanted. Sometimes if you don’t play it’s worrying.” The move went so badly, he was later named Ligue 1 ‘Flop of the Year’.
When later securing a loan move to Roma, Wijnaldum reflected on his time with the Reds, as well as being described as a ‘perfect midfielder’ by Jurgen Klopp. “It’s always difficult to say what’s the perfect midfielder. Maybe I was for Liverpool, but I understand that things can be different for another team,” he said, with it easy to take the latter part of the quote as implying he was wrong for PSG.
Bellingham’s ability is such that he would back himself to succeed where Wijnaldum failed, and Paris Saint-Germain would expect him to given the outlay involved. Even if the above are all valid reasons for the young England international not joining Mbappe and co. in France, that does not mean Liverpool is his perfect club either. It might be worth Bellingham reflecting on the experience of someone who has recently played for both clubs before making his final decision though.
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