Soccer-Real Madrid confirm Bellingham signing from Dortmund

Borussia Dortmund GmbH & Co KgaA

14/06/2023 12:17

By Fernando Kallas
       MADRID, June 14 (Reuters) - Real Madrid officially
confirmed the signing of England midfielder Jude Bellingham from
Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday in a deal worth 103 million euros
($111.29 million) plus add-ons, the Spanish giants said.
    Bellingham, who will sit out England's upcoming Euro 2024
qualifiers due to injury, will be unveiled as a Real Madrid
player on Thursday at noon local time after signing a six-year
contract.
    Dortmund said they had reached an agreement with Real last
week in a deal that includes add-ons that could increase the
total amount by up to 30%.
    Bellingham is the third player signed by Real Madrid for a
fee of at least 100 million euros after Gareth Bale (2013) and
Eden Hazard (2019).
    "Our club have signed one of the greatest talents in the
world, a midfielder who comes from Borussia Dortmund and arrives
at Madrid after being voted the best player in the Bundesliga,"
Real said in a statement.
   "Moreover, at only 19 years of age, he is already a starter
in the English national team." 
        Bellingham, who had been linked with several major
European clubs, joined Dortmund from Birmingham City in 2020 for
25 million pounds ($31.17 million), becoming the most expensive
17-year-old in football history.
        An all-action midfielder with exceptional ball control
skills, Bellingham quickly became a regular in the Dortmund
side, anchoring the midfield and starting over 30 Bundesliga
games in each of his last two seasons in Germany.
    His performances caught the eye of England manager Gareth
Southgate, who made Bellingham the youngest English player to
represent his country at a major tournament during Euro 2020,
which took place a year later than scheduled due to the
pandemic.
    Bellingham soon became a permanent fixture in England's
midfield, playing all five games at the World Cup in Qatar where
they were knocked out in the quarter-finals by France.
    Bellingham was linked with Premier League clubs who wanted
to bring him back to England, including Liverpool whose manager
Juergen Klopp said in April that they were forced to pull out of
the race to sign him due to his price tag.
    At Real Madrid, he will join a side rich in young midfield
talent such as Federico Valverde, Eduardo Camavinga and Aurelien
Tchouameni.
    Real, record 14-times European champions, are in the process
of rebuilding their squad following high-profile exits such as
Karim Benzema, Hazard, Marco Asensio and Mariano Diaz.

($1 = 0.9255 euros)

 (Reporting by Fernando Kallas, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
 ((fernando.kallas@thomsonreuters.com))