Football League World
·15 June 2023
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·15 June 2023
Birmingham City were watching on with pride yesterday as Jude Bellingham completed a move from Borussia Dortmund to Real Madrid.
Bellingham rose through the Blues academy and debuted for the club in 2019.
His career since then has taken him to Dortmund, to Qatar for the World Cup with England and now to, arguably, the biggest club in the world in Real Madrid.
According to Sky, the deal that's taken Bellingham to Madrid is worth £88.5m. Add-ons could reportedly take that deal beyond the £115m mark.
The 19-year-old will sign a six-year deal with Real Madrid.
Electric performances at Dortmund and for England have taken Bellingham to this point, but you can't forget that it all started for him at St Andrew's with Birmingham.
Pep Clotet handed him a debut in August 2019, with Bellingham playing 81 minutes of a 3-0 defeat to Portsmouth him the Carabao Cup.
At that point, Bellingham became the club's youngest ever player at 16 years and 38 days. After 44 appearances for Blues and a £25m move to Borussia Dortmund, the club retired his No.22 shirt.
Bellingham clearly left a lasting impression on the head coach that gave him his first start at Birmingham.
Clotet took to his social media platforms to write: "Welcome to Spain, Jude!
"I wish you all the very best in this new chapter and hope you really enjoy it.
"Keep developing as you have been.
"Can't wait to see your magic in La Liga."
Clotet is currently the manager of Russian Premier League club, Torpedo Moscow.
At the time that Bellingham moved from Birmingham to Dortmund in a £25m deal, Blues included a 10% sell-on clause in the agreement.
That means that, as per the Times, Birmingham are set for a £6m windfall following Bellingham's move to the Bernabéu.
Wednesday was a big day for the Bellingham family, with Jude's younger brother, Jobe, joining Sunderland in a move that sees him switch clubs across the Championship.