MANCHESTER UNITED and Manchester City will have to pay as much as £130million to land Jude Bellingham.
Liverpool have pulled out of the race to sign Borussia Dortmund’s 19-year-old superstar, but Real Madrid remain in the hunt.
City are interested and United could also move if their takeover is completed in time for the summer window.
Dortmund have not given up hope of keeping Bellingham for another season.
But if he does decide to go, the Germans believe the £138m deal they did with Barcelona for Ousmane Dembele in 2017 is a yardstick for how much they should get for the young Englishman.
French forward Dembele was just 20 — a few months older than Bellingham is now — when he moved to the Nou Camp for the enormous fee.
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Any price in that region would smash the current British record, Chelsea’s £106m splurge on Enzo Fernandez in January.
The numbers involved in the deal have forced Liverpool to back away, particularly as they are almost certain to miss out on the Champions League riches next term.
What money they do have needs to be spent on several areas rather than blowing it all on one signing.
City’s transfer funds will be focused on strengthening the midfield this summer, with Ilkay Gundogan expected to join Barcelona on a free transfer.
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There is also a question mark over Bernardo Silva while talisman Kevin De Bruyne turns 32 this summer.
City have shown in the past they are not afraid to break transfer records — splashing out what was then a British high of £100m on Jack Grealish in the summer of 2021.
Their hopes of signing Bellingham have been boosted by Liverpool walking away but they are wary of Madrid.
City do have a good working relationship with Dortmund, though, having signed Erling Haaland and Manuel Akanji from them last summer.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
