Real Madrid completed the ‘robbery of the century’ this summer when they convinced Jude Bellingham to join them rather than Manchester City this summer.
That’s according to Marca, who cover the player’s move today as he continues to shine and establish himself as one of the best players in Europe at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Bellingham joined Real Madrid in a €103m deal at the beginning of July after months of speculation about his future and a move away from Manchester City.
All of the big clubs in Europe, including eventual Champions League winners Manchester City, were linked with a move for the midfielder but it was eventually Real Madrid who secured his signature.
That’s something they’re delighted with now as Bellingham has scored 13 goals in 13 games in all competitions so far as well as registering three assists.
That is why Marca label the deal to get him as the ‘robbery of the century’ today, covering how Madrid won his signature ahead of the competition from the Premier League.
They say Madrid ‘carried out a theft’ with their transfer strategy, which was not close to being the best on the bidding table.
The effort from them was ‘enormous’ but still ‘infinitely inferior’ to what teams like Manchester City, Liverpool or Manchester United had offered.
Bellingham, though, accepted Real Madrid’s offer, signing a six-year contract worth €20m gross per season, around €11m net, a salary that’s not even the highest in the squad.
Money was not the important thing for him, according to the newspaper, otherwise he would have accepted the ‘dizzying offers’ from the Premier League.
Of the English clubs interested it was Manchester City who pushed hardest and provided the ‘main obstacle’ to Madrid’s efforts.
They, though, couldn’t convince the midfielder and instead left those in charge at the Etihad feeling like they had been robbed, suffering a ‘violation of their own feeling of security’.
They’re accustomed to winning the race for big signings, as they did with Erling Haaland, but were left disappointed this time around as the allure of Madrid proved too strong.
