Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid Near Agreement for Jude Bellingham

According to 90min, Real Madrid is on the verge of securing a deal to sign Borussia Dortmund's midfielder Jude Bellingham this summer. While nearly all of Europe's top teams have been vying for Bellingham's signature over the past twelve months, Real took the clear lead in the race when they and the 19-year-old midfielder reached an agreement over personal terms last month.

Bellingham, who prefers to join Real this summer, has agreed to a six-year contract with the club that includes a €1bn release clause. All that remains is an agreement over the transfer fee, which Dortmund has set at around €150m. Sources have informed 90min that Real is ready to meet that figure.

However, Real had attempted to negotiate a lower price, possibly by including some of their players in the deal, but Dortmund insisted on a cash-only offer. Nonetheless, Dortmund has not discounted the possibility of returning to Real for additional signings this summer.

While awaiting the outcome of Dortmund's Bundesliga title push, Real has postponed announcing the deal out of respect. Once the season is over, Real will concentrate on finalizing Bellingham's arrival, with the hope of announcing the deal next week.

Real Madrid plans to sign a new striker to contend with Karim Benzema, and they are also looking for two defenders. Rayo Vallecano's left-back, Fran Garcia, will join Real this summer, but the club is also interested in expensive players like RB Leipzig's Josko Gvardiol or Bayern Munich's Alphonso Davies, although both deals appear unlikely given their cost.

Finally, on this week's edition of Talking Transfers, a segment of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders is joined by Toby Cudworth and Graeme Bailey to discuss the latest transfer news. They discuss Tottenham's interest in Feyenoord manager Arne Slot, Bayern Munich's interest in Declan Rice, Joshua Kimmich, Neymar, and more.