In its bid to win Jude Bellingham, Borussia Dortmund beat FC Bayern, among others. The long battle for talent began two years ago.
Everything began two years ago.
Scouts from Borussia Dortmund travelled to Italy for an U15 international tournament on the Adriatic coast in April 2018. And a young curly-haired boy caught the scouts’ attention in particular: Jude Bellingham. The then 14-year-old stood out as England captain in test matches against Japan, the Czech Republic, Austria and Italy. Not because of his physique, but rather because of his enormous will and winning mentality.
14 months later, BVB brought Bellingham into the pot. On Thursday morning the England jewel landed in Dortmund by private plane. The central midfielder completed the obligatory medical check at the Knappschaftskrankenhaus hospital.
Even though the official notification from BVB is still pending, it is clear that Bellingham will wear the black and yellow jersey for the coming season. The top talent will receive a five-year contract, the back number 22 and an annual salary of around 3 million euros.
BVB already wanted to get Bellingham last summer
The Dortmunders have thus succeeded – similar to Jadon Sancho or Ousmane Dembélé – in a mega coup. The competition was once again huge. There was hardly a top European club that was not in the running for the young star. According to information, Manchester United and FC Bayern in particular fought intensively for the super-talent.
Clubs such as Juventus Turin, Chelsea and Ajax Amsterdam also kept at it. However, Bellingham could not be swayed by the significantly higher offer from the German record champions, who would have paid a higher replacement and a more opulent salary.
It was a tough battle that the BVB managers had to fight. In Dortmund they are talking about a real “energy performance”. After the aforementioned youth tournament in Italy, head scout Markus Pilawa took up the matter, established contact with the family and advisor dad Mark (full-time policeman). BVB scouts should have seen the teenager live 15 times, watched dozens of videos and had regular contact with Bellingham.