Reports have been running rampant since Wednesday announcing an imminent decision in poker about the future of Borussia Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham. If you believe the revelations of the Spanish media, however, a tough poker is in the house – thanks to BVB managing director Hans-Joachim Watzke.
At the age of just 19, Jude Bellingham has become the focus of the entire European football elite, and rumors of top offers are almost the order of the day. At just 19 years old, the Englishman is also an undisputed regular at Borussia Dortmund and is under contract with BVB until the end of June 2025.
In short: In the Ruhr area, you are currently in a very comfortable negotiating position – and probably want to use it.
BVB has “developed an aggressive strategy” and will make it “very difficult” for those interested in Jude Bellingham, the Spanish “AS” is sure. But that’s not all: The newspaper even outlines quite specifically what the procedure of the black and yellow club leadership around Hans-Joachim Watzke will look like.
We are talking about a “labyrinth” that Watzke prepared. The aim is not to lower the rumored price of 150 million euros.
It is said that the justification for this exorbitant sum is even easy. On the one hand, Real Madrid, who are seen as the hottest signing contenders, paid 80 million euros for Aurélien Tchouaméni (20 million more are possible as bonus payments), but the Frenchman has to be rated lower, and recently Chelsea flipped the pages for Enzo Fernandez 120 million euros on the table. Even compared to the Argentine, quite a few experts predict Bellingham’s brighter future.
Watzke’s intention is to initiate a bet for Bellingham: An offer from Real worth 100 million euros and 20 million euros in bonus payments discussed in the media should first be rejected in Dortmund and higher offers from the competition from Manchester or Liverpool wait.
In this context, BVB should not only play the end of the contract in 2025, especially since in the summer of 2024 you would have to downgrade your own demands significantly, but also that Bellingham’s father and advisor Mark should be “very interested” in the transfer to taking place this summer. Before FIFA regulations could clearly limit consultant commissions.
Time will tell whether the “AS” actually sums up Watzke’s plan. It is clear that BVB can look forward to the negotiations with a smile.