Bellingham, the youngster is quickly becoming one of the players of the tournament for the national side.
Plenty of fans in the wider world of football had a little bit of a giggle when Birmingham City decided to retire the No 22 shirt following the sale of Academy graduate Jude Bellingham to German Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund.
The now 19-year-old talented midfielder made the switch to the German giants for an initial £20.7 million fee back in the summer of 2020 having barely made 45 appearances for the side, having made his debut back as a fresh faced 16-year-old. But over the last few months the transfer speculation surrounding a potential move back to England has been almost endless and speaking in a recent interview with Betway Insider, former England international Trevor Sinclair feels that a fresh move is guaranteed to happen over the summer, and could well be in the region of £150 to £175 million.
Bellingham, of course, continues to make headlines with manager Gareth Southgate’s England team making decent progress out at the first-ever World Cup to be held in Qatar, and his stock could rise even further if England manages to progress through to the Semi-Finals once again by taking victory over current World Cup holders France at the Quarter Final stage.
It was not a spectacular Group B campaign, but England did enough to secure victories over Iran and Wales, whilst picking up a draw against the United States, and at the Round of 16 stage we took a 3-0 win over Senegal – so all eyes to the French, and hopefully the none involvement of penalties.
As for Sinclair and his thoughts on Bellingham, the youngster is quickly becoming one of the players of the tournament for the national side, and he felt that whilst Manchester City were the obvious candidates to secure his future, he also thought Birmingham City’s decision to retire the shirt was now being fully vindicated.
“Yeah, they knew very early. Everybody at Birmingham can’t speak highly enough of him, his attitude and his family. Jude’s got the world at his feet and, barring injury, I can see him setting a lot of records and being very successful in the game.”
As for Bellingham’s coming transfer prospects, he added about the prospect of clubs firming up their interest in him.
“Yeah, very soon. I think he’ll stay in January. Borussia Dortmund tend to stick strong and do their business when they can get the best fee possible in the summer market. But in the summer, I do expect a £150-175m kind of fee to be spent on him.”
And the clubs likely interested – City and Pep Guardiola were the most likely in his eyes.
“Barcelona, I’m not so sure, because they already have Gavi and Pedri in those positions, but virtually every other massive club will want him. Real Madrid, for sure, and Liverpool, who have been heavily linked. He obviously has that great relationship with Jordan Henderson, which might give them an advantage. But you look at Man City, where there might be some movement out in midfield this summer, and I think he could slot into that team really well. Pep knows what he wants from his players technically and tactically, he knows how he wants his players to play, and I think Bellingham brings everything that he would want. He’s got defensive qualities, he’s got that passing range and he’s got the ability to get all over the pitch. I can see him at City, for sure.”
We will have to see what happens over the next two transfer windows.
See More:
- Tottenham scouting Sporting Lisbon winger but Man City take control
- Man City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan gathering interest from Barcelona
