BORUSSIA DORTMUND have confirmed that they want to keep Jude Bellingham – although they admit it could be “wishful thinking”.
The 19-year-old England star is arguably the most sought-after player in Europe with a host of top clubs chasing him.
Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain have both supposedly seen early moves knocked back by the midfielder himself.
Bellingham appears to be against joining either of those two amid interest from the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool, Manchester United and Real Madrid.
However, we revealed last week how Los Blancos are feeling that the financial wealth of the Premier League has led them to believe that a return to England for the ex-Birmingham City ace is on the cards.
Bellingham is under contract at Dortmund until 2025 – meaning they are under no immediate pressure to cash in on him this summer.
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However, they do know that his price tag is likely to be at its peak come the end of the season.
The Bundesliga club’s sporting director Sebastian Kehl has now confirmed that there is no guarantee they will look to sell him and says they are desperate to hang on to him.
But he also admitted that there have been no advanced talks over an extension and that a new deal seems unlikely.
Kehl said: “There has been no new development. We’ll have to be patient for a little longer.
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“But of course we try to keep Jude Bellingham at Borussia Dortmund as long as possible because he is an incredibly important player who has shown once again this season how he identifies with this club and makes the team better.
“Things develop due to market mechanisms. So of course I have my thoughts and also have my wishful thinking. I can’t say whether that will happen in the end.
“From Borussia Dortmund’s point of view, the wishful thinking would be to keep a player of this quality at this club for as long as possible.
“I would also like to have kept Erling Haaland or Jadon Sancho at Borussia Dortmund, because you can only imagine if we had managed to keep all three players in one team, what opportunities would then arise.”
Kehl added: “We will always try everything to keep players of this quality at BVB – because we are ambitious, because we want to win titles. For this we need not only good, but also outstanding players.”
Dortmund and Bellingham have enjoyed a six-match winning streak since returning from the World Cup.
They welcome Chelsea to Germany for the first-leg of their last-16 Champions League clash on Wednesday.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
