Official: Real Madrid successfully signs midfielder Jude Bellingham from Borussia Dortmund for €103 million. The English player will sign a 6-year contract with the White Herons.
Bellingham's move to Santiago Bernabeu was first announced by Borussia Dortmund last week. The German club also confirmed the record-breaking transfer fee of €103 million (£88 million).
This is one of the highest-value transfers in the history of both clubs. The 19-year-old player has completed his medical examination before finalizing the terms with Real Madrid, who will officially introduce him as their latest signing this week.
The Spanish giants released an official statement regarding this agreement, stating, "Real Madrid CF and Borussia Dortmund have reached an agreement for the transfer of player Jude Bellingham, who will wear our club's jersey for the next 6 seasons."
Real Madrid provided further details about Bellingham's unveiling ceremony, stating, "Tomorrow, on Thursday, June 15, at 12:00 noon at Real Madrid City, the unveiling ceremony of Jude Bellingham as a new player of Real Madrid will take place. Subsequently, Jude Bellingham will appear before the media."
Bellingham developed through Birmingham City's youth academy and shone brightly in the Championship before joining Dortmund in the summer of 2020. He continued to establish himself as an important player for the Black and Yellow, scoring 24 goals and providing 25 assists in 132 appearances. This season, the English player has been a regular captain and has helped the team compete for the Bundesliga title against Bayern Munich.
Bellingham is also a key figure in England's national team under manager Gareth Southgate. He is expected to participate in the EURO 2024 qualifiers against Malta and North Macedonia. However, the English Football Association (FA) has confirmed that Bellingham will not be available for both matches as he is still recovering from a knee injury.
The 19-year-old star has developed into one of the most sought-after midfielders in Europe. Several top clubs on the continent, such as PSG, Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Manchester United, have been monitoring his progress at Dortmund. But in the end, Real Madrid emerged as the victorious team.
Bellingham is set to join a midfield unit composed of young talents that Real Madrid has accumulated in recent years. Eduardo Camavinga was signed from Rennes in the summer of 2020, while French international Aurelien Tchouameni arrived from Monaco last summer.
Bellingham is the second newcomer to Real Madrid in the 2023 summer transfer window. Prior to that, Los Blancos activated the buy-back clause for left-back Fran Garcia from Rayo Vallecano for a fee of €5 million. Additionally, they welcomed the return of midfielder Brahim Diaz after his loan spell at AC Milan.
Retaining his old shirt number It is highly likely that Bellingham will still wear his familiar number 22 shirt. Previously, Real Madrid announced the new shirt numbers for the 2022/23 season. Vinicius Junior received the number 7 shirt after Eden Hazard's departure. Rodrygo Goes switched to the number 11 shirt following Marco Asensio's move to PSG. Fran Garcia took the number 20 shirt, while Brahim Diaz will wear the number 21 shirt.
