Manchester City are reportedly resigned to losing out in the race to sign Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jude Bellingham.
The Citizens have been strongly linked with a summer move for the highly sought-after 19-year-old along with Spanish giants Real Madrid, who lock horns with Pep Guardiola's side in the Champions League semi-finals on Tuesday.
Los Blancos appeared to step up their pursuit of Bellingham last week with reports claiming that they had entered advanced negotiations to sign the England international this summer.
However, Dortmund head coach Edin Terzic has played down rumours that Bellingham has already agreed to join Real Madrid, stating that he is unaware of any discussions taking place between the midfielder and another club.
Such news would presumably offer hope to Man City in the race for his signature, but it seems as if the Premier League leaders have now cooled their interest in the teenager.
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According to The Athletic, City are resigned to the fact that Bellingham will eventually agree to join Real Madrid and they are yet to submit an offer to either Dortmund or the player's representatives.
Reports over the weekend claimed that Bellingham had turned down a £13m-a-year contract from Man City in favour of joining Los Blancos, but it is understood that the Citizens are yet to table a formal offer regarding a transfer fee or salary.
Bellingham is under contract at Westfalenstadion until June 2025 and is valued by Dortmund at €150m (£131.8m), a figure that Real Madrid are willing to pay for their primary midfield target.
Should City officially pull out of the race for Bellingham, they would become the second English club after Liverpool to end their interest in the midfielder ahead of the summer window.
Manchester United, who Bellingham rejected before joining Dortmund in 2020, and Chelsea have also been linked with the Englishman in the past, but they now appear to be prioritising other targets.
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Bellingham has developed into one of the brightest young talents in Europe since swapping boyhood club Birmingham City for Dortmund in the summer of 2020.
The box-to-box midfielder has contributed with 23 goals and 25 assists in 131 appearances for BVB across all competitions, including 13 goals and seven assists in 41 games this season.
Bellingham is hoping to end the current campaign as a Bundesliga champion, with Dortmund sitting just one point behind leaders and holders Bayern Munich with three games remaining.
Although Man City may step away from the race to sign Bellingham, Guardiola is likley to target a new midfielder this summer, especially if one or both of Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva depart the Etihad.
Gundogan is out of contract at the end of the season and has been heavily linked with a free transfer to Barcelona, who are also said to be interested in signing Bernardo along with Paris Saint-Germain.
Oliver Thomas
