Manchester City have made the first move in the race for Jude Bellingham after holding initial talks with the Borussia Dortmund star.
The teenage star has continued to flourish in Germany since making the move from Birmingham City in 2020 and has a host of Europe's leading lights wanting to secure his services. Dortmund have shown themselves willingness to offload their star players for the right price and could be preparing to do so again.
Liverpool and Manchester United, who previously made moves to sign Bellingham, are heavily linked with the midfielder, but it is City who are looking to steal a march having held initial talks about signing the player, as reported by the Daily Mail. Those close to the situation now believe the Etihad outfit are leading the race for his signature.
Bellingham's contract in Germany runs until 2025, but he is expected to move before it expires. City enjoy a strong relationship with Dortmund having negotiated with them to sign Erling Haaland in the summer and are looking to utilise those connections.
A move may not materialise this summer however should Bellingham price himself out of any switch with an impressive World Cup showing. Bellingham is growing in stature with England and could further increase his value - which is set to eclipse the £100m mark - if he guides the Three Lions to the latter stages.
Already this season the 19-year-old has scored against City in the Champions League. He notched a header in Dortmund's 2-1 defeat at the Etihad - one of nine goals scored by Bellingham this term and Guardiola has previously talked up his quality.
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"He was 17 when he arrived but it was not just about his quality, how he was leading, his kicking, going to the referee," said the Catalan. "This guy was something special in terms of his mentality. Now he is 19 and he is already one of the captains. The quality, everybody knows it. The whole package is really good."
Bellingham is expected to return to English shores sooner rather than later, albeit there is interest from Real Madrid. Liverpool are in need of a new midfielder as they look to rejuvenate their squad and have been linked with a Bellingham swoop, but may struggle to compete financially with City.
The Dortmund star addressed speculation about his future at the start of the season and underlined his commitment to the current campaign. He said: "The club have done loads for me and made me feel very welcome since I first came and gave me the opportunities to develop even further. To look past that and into the future would be disrespectful. It's not something I am thinking about, to be honest."
