Pep Guardiola has already warned Jude Bellingham against making a decision he would regret, amid suggestions the Catalan's Manchester City side are leading the race for the midfielder.
Bellingham, 19, left Birmingham City for Borussia Dortmund in 2020 despite interest from Premier League giants Manchester United. A series of impressive performances for England at the World Cup have seen a number of top sides linked with a move, though he could cost north of £100million.
City are said to believe they hold the advantage, with Liverpool and Real Madrid among the other clubs in the picture. The Sky Blues believe the presence of Guardiola at the helm offers them an advantage - and the former Bayern Munich boss had some words of caution for the youngster in October.
"I think Dortmund is a perfect place for young talented players to come," Guardiola said ahead of Dortmund's draw with City in the Champions League. "Maybe if Jude Bellingham was in England, he would go to City, United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal or Tottenham, maybe he would not get the minutes."
"The best way for a young player to get better is to play minutes. He was 17 when he arrived but it was not just about his quality, [it is] how he was leading, his kicking, going to the referee.
"This guy was something special in terms of his mentality. Now, he is 19 and he is already one of the captains. The quality, everybody knows it. It's not just about the goals, the whole package is really good. He’s already playing for England at 19. We know the quality he has."
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Bellingham has nine goals in all competitions this season for Dortmund, which is already the best return of his career. He also scored his first senior international goal at the World Cup, heading England in front as they beat Iran 6-2 in their opening group game.
The teenager also netted against City in a 2-1 Champions League defeat, with further goals against Copenhagen and Sevilla seeing Edin Terzic's team through to the last 16. Next up for them is a Chelsea side including a number of Bellingham's England team-mates, including fellow midfielder Mason Mount.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp was recently asked about the possibility of a January swoop for Bellingham as the Reds aim to return to the top four. He suggested he was the wrong person to ask, but did go into more detail about the club's plans for the upcoming window.
"January, in our situation, is a window from a sports side we are always prepared, it's always clear what kind of ideas we have or how the necessity is from our point of view," Klopp said.
"All the rest doesn't lie 100 per cent in our hands and we always work with what we've got, and that will not change. You can imagine the situation we are in that we are probably looking. If something happens, we will see."
