Football finance expert makes Jude Bellingham claim following Birmingham City takeover collapse | OneFootball

Football finance expert Kieran Maguire believes that the Birmingham City takeover situation may relate to the future of Jude Bellingham.

The England international is a former academy product of the Blues, having been sold to Borussia Dortmund in 2020.

The midfielder has been one of the superstars of the current World Cup, having performed exceptionally for Gareth Southgate’s side.

With Birmingham holding a sell-on clause in the agreement with Dortmund, Maguire has claimed this may have played a role in the collapse of the takeover deal earlier this month.

A consortium led by Paul Richardson and Maxi Lopez had agreed a deal to purchase the club, but the deal collapsed five months later.

Speaking on the latest episode of The Price of Football podcast, the finance expert claimed that the current owners BSHL may have looked to secure the sell-on clause as part of any potential negotiations, which may have been a cause for the collapse.

“It could be that MaxCo pulled out because sometimes you don’t make enough progress as you’d like and the current owners are looking for some sort of potential pay outs,” said Maguire, via .

“The other potential issue is that we’ve been watching the World Cup and everybody goes, that Jude Bellingham is a bit tasty – he was that good at Birmingham that they retired his shirt.

“One would presume they have a decent sell-on clause in respect of his contract. There’s talk about Dortmund saying that at the start of the tournament he’s worth £130 million in their eyes.

“I think it’s fair to say that his value is only headed in one direction since then and that’s up.

“It could be that Birmingham Sports Holdings say that Jude Bellingham was sold under our ownership and we therefore want to trouser that sell-on clause.

“I suspect that it’s all to do with trying to get one over the other in terms of these deals and they have collapsed.

“It means that the only person whose name is possibly in the hat is that of Laurence Bassini.

“I think it’s fair to say we have our reservations on his ability to come up with the cash required to buy the club and to sustain it – Birmingham have lost a fortune over the last few years, something like £145 million over the last decade.

“They are a club who have not had luck with owners.”

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John Eustace’s side return to Championship action this weekend amid this off-field uncertainty.

The Blues will be aiming to get back to winning ways when they face Blackpool on 10 December.

The Verdict

The club could be set to earn a significant fee for the sale of Bellingham should he be sold in either January or this summer, which is appearing more and more likely.

The midfielder’s value is increasing with every performance, meaning he could end up departing for well over £100 million.

That would result in Birmingham receiving a decent chunk of money which would be deserved due to their commitment to furthering the development of academy players.

However, this money may not be reinvested in the club’s squad unless a new takeover bid is launched in the future.