Man City's hopes of landing Jude Bellingham on a deal this summer are dwindling according to Football Insider, with the club now believing he is about to join Champions League rivals Real Madrid.
What is the latest on Jude Bellingham to Man City?
The midfielder has set both the Bundesliga and the world stage alight this year so far, with his performances for England even landing him in some Team of the Tournament elevens for the 2022 World Cup. For Dortmund this year, the 19-year-old has also produced eight goals and four assists in 31 league outings and also leads the Bundesliga for successful take-ons this campaign with 86 to date.
It's led to widespread interest in Bellingham, with several teams all desperate to try and secure a deal for the youngster during the summer transfer window. Liverpool were one of the most heavily linked teams for the player's signature, but their boss Jurgen Klopp has since suggested a deal won't happen because of the potential fee involved.
Thus, the race has most recently appeared to be between both Real Madrid and Man City, although some sources suggested Pep Guardiola's side still hadn't tabled an offer for the midfielder.
Now, a report from Football Insider suggests that Real Madrid may be clear to snap up the Borussia Dortmund man, with City believing they have less and less chance of signing the player during the transfer window. It states that the Premier League outfit haven't completely thrown in the towel and are waiting in case a deal to send Bellingham to Spain doesn't happen but that they are now considering other potential targets.
A transfer blow if Man City miss out on Bellingham?
There would likely be plenty of City fans hurting if the club couldn't add Bellingham to their ranks this summer.
The Dortmund man is arguably one of the hottest properties in the world right now and his stats back that up. His WhoScored score of 7.58 – with six Man of the Match awards to boot – ranks him as the highest rated player in the entire Bundesliga this campaign, above the likes of Joshua Kimmich and Jamal Musiala at Bayern Munich.
The England starlet has a pass success rate of 83.1%, showing his impressive vision and ability to find a teammate, and has been labelled "exceptional" by Klopp. Throw in the fact that he manages 2.2 shots per game and it shows his ability to get forward and his offensive nature – he likes to get his team on the front foot and even score himself.
Bellingham is the full package and if City don't end up signing him, it will be hard for the side to find someone capable of doing the same job that he would have done at the Etihad Stadium.