Bellingham's transfer deal takes a twist after England exit, Real VARdrid tremble

The race for Jude Bellingham's services seems to be getting slimmer and slimmer. Although Chelsea, Manchester City, PSG, Liverpool and Real Madrid have all been linked with the Borussia Dortmund player at some stage, at the moment, it seems that Jürgen Klopp's and Carlo Ancelotti's sides have gained the edge over their rivals.

Chelsea seem to have taken a step back and have opted to go for Declan Rice, Manchester City are looking to renew Gündogan and Bernardo Silva and PSG, for the moment, are just rumours. Madrid and Liverpool seem to be getting lonely and until this week the English side seemed to have the upper hand over Florentino Perez, but a statement made by the player himself to a fan after the match against Senegal has left Jürgen Klopp more than worried: "To Real Madrid to win the Ballon d'Or, we'll see," he said.

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After the match against Senegal a fan shouted at him: "Come to Madrid, come to Madrid", to which team-mate Jordan Henderson, who along with Alexander-Arnold seem to be acting as Liverpool's agents in Qatar, laughingly replied "no", but the fan then went back to the fan and said: "If you come to Madrid you will win the Ballon d'Or", to which Bellingham replied: "Do you think so? We'll see.

A nod to Real Madrid that will excite the Madrid fans in no small way. Real Madrid's midfield, two years from now, may be completely different to the one that has won five Champions League titles. Luka Modric and Toni Kroos have entered the phase of renewing their contracts year by year and deciding when to hang up their boots, Ceballos's contract expires in June 2023 and only Tchouaméni looks set to stay on for a long period of time.

Liverpool want Bellingham

Jude Bellingham is one of the players who are set to replace Kroos and Modric in Real Madrid's midfield, but Liverpool are making it very difficult for him. As we reported here, if they have to sell him, Borussia Dortmund prefer to do so to the English side rather than the Spanish one, but the midfielder's latest statements in Qatar have raised even more doubts. In six months' time we will know his decision.