Bellingham more valuable than De Bruyne and Fernandes as five clubs battle for teen

Jude Bellingham’s outstanding performances have boosted his transfer value ahead of what is being predicted as a ‘crazy’ battle for his signature next summer.

The Borussia Dortmund midfielder starred for England during the recent international break and is now the fifth most valuable player in world football at the age of 19.

According to latest figures from Transfermarkt, Bellingham is valued at £81million – that’s only second in the Premier League to Erling Haaland, and above midfield stars Kevin de Bruyne and Bruno Fernandes [both £76.5m].

Paris Saint-Germain’s Kylian Mbappe is ranked as the most valuable player in the world at £144m, with Haaland second at £135m, Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior third at £108m and Barcelona’s Pedri rated as the same value as Bellingham.

This comes ahead of what is setting up to be many months of speculation over the former Birmingham City ace’s future in Germany, with as many as FIVE elite clubs ready to fight it out.

And while his transfer value might be around the £80m mark, it’s likely Dortmund will demand much more due to his age, remarkable talent and potential to improve even more, with reports he could fetch up to £130m when the summer transfer window opens.

Liverpool have been strongly linked with an interest in the Three Lions youngster, and have been tipped to make their move next summer at the insistence of manager Jurgen Klopp after missing out on Aurelien Tchouameni to Real Madrid.

The Reds are not alone, and while reports in Spain had claimed Bellingham has already decided to join Real Madrid, transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has cast doubt on those claims by claiming a host of top clubs are keen and ‘nothing is decided yet’.

“This is going to be the new kind of Erling Haaland race with many clubs involved, and crazy months of rumours about Jude Bellingham,” said the transfer guru on his YouTube channel.

“Man City will also be there, they will go for a new midfielder next summer and Bellingham is highly rated. 

“Manchester United are always thinking of Bellingham, they know they are not in an easy position, but they will try to explore this opportunity.

“We know how strong Chelsea are on a financial point of view, and they are thinking of a new midfielder next summer. They wanted Frenkie de Jong this summer and next summer there is the situation of N’Golo Kante and Jorginho’s contracts, so they go for a new midfielder and Bellingham is attracting interest.

“And then, Real Madrid – not just English clubs – they sold Casemiro to Manchester United at the end of the summer transfer window and next summer it could be the case to go for a new midfielder.

“Even if they signed Tchouameni and have Camavinga, fantastic players for the future, they also have players like Luka Modric and Toni Kroos who are on short contracts, so this is why Bellingham is also on Real Madrid’s list and everything is absolutely open.

“So there will be many clubs in the race, but the player has no agreement with any club yet, so everything is in discussion and everything will take time. 

“Bellingham is not deciding now, or this week or next week. All these clubs will be there.

“And Borussia Dortmund will for sure try to do their business early again, not at the end of July or August, they will try to hold discussions around April, May and June.”