Football: Jude Bellingham joins Real Madrid
By Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw
England midfielder, Jude Bellingham, has completed his transfer from Borussia Dortmund to Real Madrid in a six-year deal.
The Spanish Club will pay an initial fee of €103 million (£88.5million) for the 19-year-old player and this sum could rise with various potential add-ons to €133.9 million (£115 million)!
This initial fee makes Bellingham the second most-expensive English footballer after Jack Grealish was transferred in 2021 from Aston Villa to Manchester City for the sum of £100 million.
Also, Bellingham is the second most-expensive signing by Real Madrid after the transfer in 2019 of Eden Hazard from Chelsea for the sum of €115 million.
Furthermore, Bellingham is the third most-expensive teenage footballer in history.
Kylian Mbappe was transferred in 2018 from Monaco to Paris St-Germain for the sum of €118 million and Jao Felix was transferred in 2019 from Benfica to Atletico Madrid for the sum of €126 million.
In October 2022, Bellingham was made captain of Borussia Dortmund at the age of 19 and made history by becoming the Club’s youngest captain.
Leaving aside Bellingham’s undoubted skills as a footballer, the sums paid for his transfer and for the record transfers of other teenage professional footballers are eye-watering and perhaps obscene in the current challenging global economic situation!
Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw may be contacted by e-mail at ‘
