Soccer-Real Madrid to sign Bellingham from Dortmund for 103 million euros (updated)

Borussia Dortmund GmbH & Co KgaA

07/06/2023 15:55

(Adds details)
       June 7 (Reuters) - Borussia Dortmund have agreed to sell
England midfielder Jude Bellingham to Spanish giants Real Madrid
for an initial fee of 103 million euros ($110.4 million), the
Bundesliga club said in a statement on Wednesday.
    The 19-year-old, 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.
        He 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.
  
        England manager Gareth Southgate made Bellingham the
youngest English player to represent his country at a major
tournament during the 2021 European Championship.
  
        He 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 home, including Liverpool whose manager
Juergen Klopp said 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 in Federico Valverde, Eduardo Camavinga and
Aurelien Tchouameni as the club look to build for the future and
replace long-time stalwarts Toni Kroos and Luka Modric.
  
        Dortmund said the variable transfer compensation paid by
Real will be a maximum of around 30% of the initial fee based on
Bellingham's performances and the Spanish club's success on the
pitch.
  
        
  
    ($1 = 0.9331 euros)

 (Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Chopra,
editing by Ed Osmond)
 ((Rohith.Nair@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: https://twitter.com/RohithNair))