Writing in today’s edition of Fabrizio Romano’s Daily Briefing, football’s leading transfer news expert has weighed in on the race for top-class midfield transfers next summer.
Jude Bellingham is likely to be one of the most in-demand names on the market following his sensational form with Borussia Dortmund, but Romano is aware that clubs like Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool and Real Madrid will surely have alternatives in mind if he doesn’t. he fails to win the race to sign the English international.
An alternative could be West Ham star Declan Rice, who is another top young English talent with immense potential and the ability to play a variety of midfield roles.
Still, Romano made it clear that West Ham are quite confident they are protected by Rice’s current contract situation, meaning they could collect up to €150m for the 23-year-old.
Other alternatives to Bellingham could be Youri Tielemans, who is nearing the end of his contract at Leicester City, while Romano also suggested it might be worth keeping an eye on if Frenkie de Jong’s situation at Barcelona changes.
“I get asked about Jude Bellingham a lot at the moment, but another big-name midfielder that fans seem to want to know about is Declan Rice. After all, if Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Real Madrid are chasing Bellingham, only one of them can catch him and the rest will need an alternative.”
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“Still, for Declan Rice we have to consider and respect West Ham; They always wanted almost 150 million euros for the midfielder and they feel protected by his current contract situation.
“For anyone missing out on Bellingham, I think we can look at Youri Tielemans as a good alternative: he continues to prove he’s an excellent midfielder and looks ready to move as a free agent; and we are going to see what happens with Frenkie de Jong, if he changes his mind or not about his situation at Barcelona”.
