Paper Talk: Man Utd done over by Dortmund again as target agrees record move

Jude Bellingham

Borussia Dortmund are set to pull of a major transfer surprise with the capture of a brilliant English teenager, while West Ham are planning a swoop to sign one of the Championship’s top strikers, according to Wednesday’s Euro Paper Talk.

 

JUDE BELLINGHAM POISED TO SIGN FOR BORUSSIA DORTMUND

Manchester United are set to miss out to Borussia Dortmund for the second time in as many transfer windows with reports in Germany claiming Borussia Dortmund had won the race to sign teenage midfielder Jude Bellingham.

Having missed out in January to the Bundesliga side for striker Erling Haaland, Dortmund are again set to beat them to the punch for 16-year-old Birmingham star Bellingham, who was thought to be one of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s top summer targets.

United are making a conscious effort to buy young homegrown talent under the stewardship of Solskjaer and the Norwegian was reported to have made Bellingham, who had also been linked with Liverpool and Chelsea, a priority capture.

The midfielder became Birmingham’s youngest ever player when he started their Carabao Cup clash against Portsmouth back in August.

Bellingham has gone on to make 34 appearances and score four times – including the winner in their 1-0 success over Charlton earlier this season.

He currently earns £145-a-week at St Andrew’s but will receive a huge pay rise when he turns 17 in June, and United had hoped that would be at Old Trafford.

 

 

However, the Daily Mail (via Sports Bild) claims Bellingham will seal a €35m (£30m) switch to the Westfallonstadion at the end of the season – a figure that represents a club-record swoop for Dortmund.

Bellingham has been capped for the England under-16 and under-17 sides over the past year, and the transfer to the Bundesliga – where he would hope for a quick rise into their first team, will raise his profile significantly.

But for United, it’ll be yet another case of the one that got away as Dortmund continue their policy of snapping up some of the world’s hottest young talents.

 

AND THE REST

Harry Kane will consider his Tottenham future in the summer, with the club facing a battle to convince the striker he does not need to move to take his career to the next level (Daily Telegraph)

The door remains open to Jamie Vardy to make an England return (Daily Telegraph)

West Ham are watching Brentford’s Ollie Watkins with the view to making a summer bid to bring the striker to the London Stadium (The Sun)

Chelsea look set to miss out on Borussia Dortmund youngster Nnamdi Collins, with Manchester City moving ahead of them in the race to secure the defender’s signature, according to reports (The Sun)

Real Madrid have asked former Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino to keep them informed of his plans as they consider hiring him to replace Zinedine Zidane (The Independent)

Premier League clubs have strengthened their global scouting teams as they prepare to take advantage of relaxed post-Brexit regulations on homegrown players (Daily Mail)

Wolves star Adama Traore may need surgery after dislocating his shoulder three times in 16 matches this season (Daily Mail)

Gonzalo Higuain is being considered for a summer switch to Athletic Bilbao once his current deal with Juventus expires (Daily Mail)

Alexis Sanchez will need to accept a significant drop in wages if he wants to complete a permanent switch to Inter Milan this summer (Daily Mail)

Cenk Tosun could miss the rest of the season after suffering a potentially serious injury in what is a big blow to Crystal Palace (Daily Mail)

Lucas Torreira could still return to the Arsenal side this season despite leaving Fratton Park on crutches on Monday (Daily Mail)

Chelsea boss Frank Lampard has heaped praise on Kepa Arrizabalaga after the Spaniard returned to the starting line-up in his side’s win over Liverpool and hinted he could get a permanent recall (Daily Mail)

 

 

Arsenal fans are being asked to sign up for executive season tickets – before knowing whether they will be in the Champions League (Daily Mirror)

Sokratis Papastathopoulos has threatened to leave Arsenal if he does not get more regular first-team football (Daily Express)

Carlo Ancelotti is forcing his staff to learn English to help propel Everton up the Premier League table (The Times)