€103 million player rejected Manchester City to join Real Madrid

Manchester City and Real Madrid are the two best teams in Europe right now. The two met in the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League last season and it would not be a big surprise if they faced each other in the latter stages of the competition in this campaign as well. Naturally, it is only natural for them to have common transfer targets at times.

It looks like that was the case recently as well, with Jude Bellingham. But the Englishman chose to join Real Madrid over the reigning Treble winners.

Bellingham was linked with some of the biggest teams in all of Europe over the summer. He did end up joining Real Madrid from Borussia Dortmund in a €103 million move with €30 million more possible in add-ons.

It looks like Manchester City were pretty involved in the race for Bellingham as well if some recent comments are anything to go by. Thankfully, Real Madrid came out on top and might have found the new face of the club.

€103 million player rejected Manchester City to join Real Madrid

As reported by AS, Jose Manuel Otero, a member of the board of directors of Real Madrid, visited the Twitch channel ‘Remontada Blanca’ and he said:

"“They told us this the other day at lunch with Girona. People from Manchester City came to eat and told us that they had been talking to Bellingham. They said that the father (Mark Bellingham) had entertained them a little by giving them hope, but Jude said no, that he wanted to play for Real Madrid. That is happening with many players. When the prospect of signing for Real Madrid opens up to them, they forget everything else. Madrid is the best way to achieve glory.”"

It would be safe to say that Bellingham has exceeded all expectations since joining Real Madrid in the summer. He was always expected to be a great signing but not even the most optimistic of fans could have seen this coming.

Bellingham has established himself as an undroppable in Carlo Ancelotti’s team and he has been Real Madrid’s best player this season by quite some distance. He might only have played a handful of games in the Royal White jersey but it is starting to feel like he is the face of the club already. And that blockbuster transfer fee is starting to look like a bargain figure for the Spanish giants.