Stourbridge to Madrid - Jude Bellingham set for move to Spanish giants Real Madrid

Reports last night claimed the 19-year-old was in advanced talks with Real Madrid ahead of a potential £120million move from Borussia Dortmund.

The Stourbridge-born England star had been linked with some of the top clubs across Europe but 14-time European champions Real look to have won the race for his signature.

It will mark an incredible rise for the youngster who started out in the junior side at hometown club Stourbridge Juniors before progressing to Birmingham City.

Stourbridge Juniors was set up by Jude’s father, Mark Bellingham, who had a successful non-league career while also being a police officer, and Phil Wooldridge.

Jude began playing with Juniors aged four and had to be cajoled to enjoy the game which would make him famous, recalled former coach Wooldridge ahead of the World Cup last year.

He added: “It took a while, it wasn’t just overnight, it was a matter of a few months.”

Bellingham’s talent was spotted by Blues’ academy and he starred through the age groups at St Andrew’s before making his first team debut in 2019 at the age of 16 years and 38 days.

He scored his first goal for the club 25 days later before sealing a move to German giants Dortmund a year later. Bellingham scored 21 goals in 130 appearances for Dortmund and has been a major part of the team challenging for the Bundesliga title this season.

The teenager had also been linked with Manchester City, while a potential move to Liverpool seemed to be curtailed by the finances involved in a deal.

“We don’t speak about players we sign or do not sign, so we don’t now speak about this kind of speculation. There is nothing to say about it,” Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp said when asked about Bellingham last month.

“It is not about Jude Bellingham, my answer now, but I never understood why we talk about things we theoretically cannot have. We cannot have six players in a summer, everyone for £100million. Everyone would say that is clear.”

n Lionel Messi’s stint at Paris St Germain is reportedly set to end this summer.

The Argentinian, whose contract expires next month, has been on the receiving end of jeering from PSG fans during recent games and his unauthorised trip to Saudi Arabia this week led to a suspension from his bosses in Paris.

The writing now appears to be on the wall for Messi at PSG, whose president Nasser Al Khelaifi was already committed to ending the “bling bling” culture at the club and rebuilding around young, local talent.

The renewal of Kylian Mbappe’s contract last year, even though it came at enormous cost, is seen as part of that new strategy. Messi, however, seems to no longer fit into those plans. It has been reported Messi’s father, Jorge, informed the club’s director of football a few weeks ago that his son did not want to extend his contract by another year.

The unauthorised trip to Saudi Arabia further upped the ante and it is understood he has been suspended for two weeks from training and matches.

Yesterday, the Saudi Tourism Authority released details of Messi’s trip to Riyadh.

The player and his family “indulged in a fine-dining experience” at the Al Bujairi Terrace, visited the VIA Riyadh luxury retail complex and also the 300-year-old UNESCO World Heritage Site in Diriyah.

Before heading to Diriyah, the family had been to a farm where they fed Arabian gazelles, the release said.